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THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 


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'  I  had  my  eye  on  the  knife  of  the  man  who  was  sitting  next  to  me." 

Page  192. 


THE 

BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

OR 

COLONEL 

THORNDTKE'S 

SECRET 


BY 

GEORGE  A.  HENTY 

Author  of  "  Under  Drake's  Flag,"  "  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie,' 
"  In  Freedom's  Cause,"  etc. 


h 


% 


ILLUSTRATED    BY 

ELENORE  PLAISTED  ABBOTT 


PHILADELPHIA 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 
1900 


Copyright,  1897,  by  George  A.  Henty. 


Copyright,  1899,  by  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company. 


Electrotypeo  and  Printed  by  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  Phiuoelphia,  U.S.  A. 


Stack 
Annex 

PR 

Ifod 

LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

¥ 

**  I  had  my  eye  on  the  knife  of  the  man  who  was  sitting  next 

to  me" Frontispiece 

"  I  looked  out  suddenly,  and  each  time  there  was  a  dark  face  some- 
where in  the  street  behind" 24 

"  He  is  dead,  father" 82 

Mark  stripped,  and  the  man  walked  around  him  critically      ....     I45 

"  As  you  love  me,  so  I  love  you,  Mark" 260 

"  It  took  me  almost  as  long  to  get  the  ropes  off  my  legs" 312 


PACK 


THE    BRAHMINS'    TREASURE 


CHAPTER    I. 


SQUIRE  THORNDYKE,  of  the  Manor  House  of 
Crawley,  was,  on  the  ist  of  September,  1782, 
walking  up  and  down  the  little  terrace  in  front  of 
the  quaint  old  house  in  an  unusually  disturbed  mood. 
He  was  a  man  of  forty-three  or  four,  stoutly  and  strongly 
built,  and  inclined  to  be  portly.  Save  the  loss  of  his 
wife  four  years  before,  there  had  been  but  little  to  ruffle 
the  easy  tenor  of  his  life.  A  younger  son,  he  had,  at 
his  mother's  death,  when  he  was  three-and-twenty,  come 
in  for  the  small  estate  at  Crawley,  which  had  been  her 
jointure. 

For  ten  years  he  had  led  a  life  resembling  that  of 
most  of  his  neighbours  ;  he  had  hunted  and  shot,  been 
a  regular  attendant  at  any  main  of  cocks  that  was  fought 
within  fifteen  miles  of  Crawley,  had  occasionally  been  up 
to  London  for  a  week  or  two  to  see  the  gay  things  there, 
and  had  generally  gone  down  of  an  evening  to  J:he  inn, 

7 


8  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

where  he  talked  over  with  two  or  three  of  his  own  con- 
dition, and  a  few  of  the  better  class  of  farmers,  the  news 
of  the  day,  the  war  with  the  French,  the  troubles  in 
Scotland,  the  alarming  march  of  the  young  Pretender, 
and  his  defeat  at  Culloden  ;  with  no  very  keen  interest 
in  the  result,  for  the  Southern  gentry  and  yeomen,  un- 
like those  in  the  North,  had  no  strong  leanings  either 
way.  They  had  a  dull  dislike  for  Hanoverian  George, 
but  no  great  love  for  the  exiled  Stuarts,  whose  patron, 
the  King  of  France,  was  an  enemy  of  England. 

More  often,  however,  their  thoughts  turned  upon  local 
topics  :  the  holding  up  of  the  coach  of  Sir  James  Harris 
or  Squire  Hamilton  by  highwaymen  ;  the  affray  between 
the  French  smugglers  and  the  Revenue  men  near  Selsea 
Bill  or  Shoreham  ;  the  delinquencies  of  the  poaching 
gangs  ;  the  heaviness  of  the  taxes,  and  the  price  of  corn. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-three  Squire  Thorndyke  married 
the  daughter  of  a  neighbouring  land-owner  ;  a  son  was 
born,  and  three  years  later  Mrs.  Thorndyke  died.  Since 
then  the  Squire  had  led  a  more  retired  life  ;  he  still  went 
down  to  smoke  his  pipe  at  the  inn  parlour,  but  he  gave 
up  his  visits  to  town,  and  cock-fights  and  even  bull-bait- 
ing were  no  longer  attractions  to  him.  He  was  known 
as  a  good  landlord  to  the  three  or  four  farmers  who  held 
land  under  him  ;  was  respected  and  liked  in  the  village, 
where  he  was  always  ready  to  assist  in  cases  of  real  dis- 
tress ;  was  of  an  easy-going  disposition  and  on  good 
terms  with  all  his  neighbours. 

But  to-day  he  was  unusually  disturbed  in  his  mind. 
A  messenger  had  ridden  up  two  hours  before  with  a 
letter  frpm  London.     It  was  as  follows  : 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  9 

"  My  dear  Brother  John, — You  will  be  surprised 
indeed  at  this  letter  from  me,  whom,  doubtless,  you  sup- 
pose to  be  fighting  in  India.  I  have  done  with  fighting, 
and  am  nearly  done  with  life.  I  was  shot  in  the  battle  of 
Buxar,  eighteen  months  ago.  For  a  time  the  surgeons 
thought  that  it  was  going  to  be  fatal ;  then  I  rallied,  and 
for  some  months  it  seemed  that,  in  spite  of  the  ball  that 
they  were  never  able  to  find,  I  was  going  to  get  over  it, 
and  should  be  fit  for  service  again.  Then  I  got  worse  : 
first  it  was  a  cough,  and  the  blood  used  to  come  up,  and 
they  said  that  the  only  chance  for  me  was  to  come  home. 
I  did  not  believe  it  would  be  of  any  use,  but  I  thought 
that  I  would  rather  die  at  home  than  in  India,  so  home  I 
came,  and  have  now  been  a  week  in  London. 

"  I  thought  at  first  of  going  down  to  my  place  at 
Reigate,  and  having  you  and  your  boy  down  with  me, 
but  as  I  have  certainly  not  many  weeks,  perhaps  not 
many  days  to  live,  I  thought  I  would  come  down  to 
you  ;  so  the  day  after  you  receive  this  letter  I  shall  be 
with  you.  I  shall  not  bring  my  little  girl  down  ;  I 
have  left  her  in  good  hands,  and  I  shall  only  bring 
with  me  my  Hindoo  servant.  He  will  give  you  no 
trouble  :  a  mat  to  sleep  on,  and  a  little  rice  to  eat  will 
satisfy  his  wants,  and  he  will  take  the  trouble  of  me  a 
good  deal  off  your  hands.  He  was  a  Sepoy  in  my 
regiment,  and  has  always  evinced  the  greatest  devotion 
for  me.  More  than  once  in  battle  he  has  saved  my 
life,  and  has,  for  the  last  three  years,  been  my  servant, 
and  has  nursed  me  since  I  have  been  ill  as  tenderly  as  a 
woman  could  have  done.  As  I  shall  have  time  to  tell 
you  everything  when  I  arrive,  I  will  say  no  more  now." 


lo  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

The  news  had  much  affected  John  Thorndyke.  His 
brother  George  was  five  years  his  senior,  and  had  gone 
out  as  a  cadet  in  the  Company's  service  when  John  was 
but  thirteen,  and  this  was  his  first  home-coming.  Had 
it  not  been  for  a  portrait  that  had  been  taken  of  him  in 
his  uniform  just  before  he  sailed,  John  would  have  had 
but  little  remembrance  of  him.  In  that  he  was  repre- 
sented as  a  thin,  spare  youth,  with  an  expression  of 
quiet  determination  in  his  face.  From  his  father  John 
had,  of  course,  heard  much  about  him. 

"  Nothing  would  satisfy  him  but  to  go  out  to  India, 
John.  There  was,  of  course,  no  occasion  for  it,  as  he 
would  have  this  place  after  me,  a  fine  estate  and  a  good 
position;  what  could  he  want  more?  But  he  was  a 
curious  fellow.  Once  he  formed  an  opinion  there  was 
no  persuading  him  to  change  it.  He  was  always  get- 
ting ideas  such  as  no  one  else  would  think  of;  he  did 
not  care  for  anything  that  other  people  cared  for;  he 
never  hunted  nor  shot ;  he  used  to  puzzle  me  altogether 
with  his  ways,  and  'pon  my  word  I  was  not  sorry  when 
he  said  he  would  go  to  India,  for  there  was  no  saying 
how  he  might  have  turned  out  if  he  had  stopped  here. 
He  never  could-  do  anything  like  anybody  else  ;  noth- 
ing that  he  could  have  done  would  have  surprised  me. 

"If  he  had  told  me  that  he  intended  to  be  a  play- 
actor, or  a  jockey,  or  a  pirate,  or  a  book-writer,  I 
would  not  have  been  surprised.  Upon  my  word,  it 
was  rather  a  relief  to  me  when  he  said,  *  I  have  made 
up  my  mind  to  go  into  the  East  India  service,  father. 
I  suppose  you  can  get  me  a  cadetship.'  At  least,  that 
was  an  honourable  profession,  and  I  knew  anyhow  that 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  ii 

when  he  once  said,  '  I  have  made  up  my  mind,  father,' 
no  arguments  would  move  him,  and  that  if  I  did  not 
get  him  a  cadetship  he  was  perfectly  capable  of  running 
away,  going  up  to  London,  and  enlisting  in  one  of  their 
white  regiments." 

John  Thorndyke's  own  remembrances  were  that  his 
brother  had  always  been  good-natured  to  him,  that  he 
had  often  told  him  long  stories  about  Indian  adven- 
tures, and  that  a  short  time  before  he  went  away, 
having  heard  that  he  had  been  unmercifully  beaten 
by  the  school- master  at  Reigate  for  some  trifling  fault, 
he  had  gone  down  to  the  town,  and  had  so  battered 
the  man  that  the  school  had  to  be  closed  for  a  fort- 
night. They  had  always  kept  up  a  correspondence. 
When  he  received  the  news  of  his  father's  death  George 
had  written  to  him,  begging  him  to  go  down  to  Reigate, 
and  to  manage  the  estate  for  him. 

"Of  course,"  he  said,  "you  will  draw  its  income  as 
long  as  you  are  there.  I  mayn't  be  back  for  another 
twenty  years ;  one  gets  rich  out  here  fast,  what  with 
plunder  and  presents  and  one  thing  and  another,  and  it 
is  no  use  to  have  money  accumulating  at  home,  so  just 
live  on  the  place  as  if  it  were  your  own,  until  I  come 
home  to  turn  you  out" 

John  had  declined  the  offer. 

"  I  am  very  well  where  I  am,"  he  wrote,  "  and  the  care 
of  the  estate  would  be  a  horrible  worry  to  me  ;  besides, 
I  have  just  married,  and  if  I  ever  have  any  children  they 
would  be  brought  up  beyond  their  station.  I  have 
done  what  I  can  for  you.  I  have  engaged  an  excellent 
man,  who  has  been  steward  to  Sir  John  Hieover,  and 


12  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

looked  after  the  estate  during  his  son's  minority.  But 
the  young  blade,  on  coming  of  age,  set  to  work  to  make 
ducks  and  drakes  of  the  property,  and  Newman  could 
not  bear  to  see  the  estate  going  to  the  Jews,  so,  as  luck 
would  have  it,  he  resigned  a  month  ago,  and  I  went  over 
as  soon  as  I  got  your  letter  and  appointed  him,  in  your 
name,  steward  at  Reigate.  I  think  he  will  do  the  place 
justice  in  every  way.  Of  course,  if  you  don't  hke  the 
arrangement  you  must  write  and  say  so  ;  it  will  be  a  year 
before  I  get  your  answer,  and  I  have  only  engaged  him 
for  certain  for  that  time,  telling  him  that  it  must  lie  with 
you  as  to  permanent  arrangement." 

So  Newman  had  taken  charge  of  the  Reigate  estate, 
and  had  continued  to  manage  it  ever  since,  although 
George  had  written  home  in  great  displeasure  at  his  offer 
being  refused. 

Inside  the  Manor  the  bustle  of  preparations  was  going 
on  ;  the  spare  room,  which  had  not  been  used  for  many 
years,  was  being  turned  out,  and  a  great  fire  lighted  to 
air  it.  John  Thorndyke  had  sent  a  letter  by  the  return- 
ing messenger  to  a  friend  in  town,  begging  him  to  go  at 
once  to  Leadenhall  Street  and  send  down  a  supply  of 
Indian  condiments  for  his  brother's  use,  and  had  then 
betaken  himself  to  the  garden  to  think  the  matter  over. 
The  next  day  a  post-chaise  arrived,  bringing  the  invalid 
and  his  coloured  servant,  whose  complexion  and  Indian 
garb  struck  the  maids  with  an  awe  not  unmingled  with 
alarm.  John  Thorndyke  could  hardly  believe  that  the 
bent  and  emaciated  figure  was  that  of  his  brother,  but 
he  remembered  the  voice  when  the  latter  said,  holding 
out  his  hand  to  him, — 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  13 

"  Well,  brother  John,  here  I  am,  what  is  left  of  me. 
Gracious,  man  !  who  would  have  thought  that  you  were 
going  to  grow  up  such  a  fine  tall  fellow.  You  are  more 
fitted  to  be  a  soldier  than  I  am.  No,  don't  try  to  help  me 
out ;  Ramoo  will  do  that,  he  is  accustomed  to  my  ways  ; 
and  I  would  as  soon  trust  myself  to  a  rogue  elephant  as 
to  you." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  looking  so  badly,  brother 
George. " 

"  What  must  be,  must ;  I  have  had  my  fling,  and  after 
thirty  years  of  marching  and  fighting  I  have  no  right  to 
grumble  if  I  am  laid  upon  my  back  at  last" 

Leaning  on  Ramoo's  arm.  Colonel  Thorndyke  made 
his  way  into  the  house,  and,  when  Ramoo  had  arranged 
the  cushions  of  the  sofa,  took  his  place  there  in  a  half- 
reclining  position. 

"  I  am  not  always  as  bad  as  this,  John,"  he  said  ;  "the 
jolting  of  your  confounded  roads  has  been  too  much  for 
me.  If  I  were  the  king  I  would  hang  every  fellow  who 
had  anything  to  do  with  them,  contractors,  boards  of 
county  magistrates,  and  the  whole  lot  If  I  had  known 
what  it  was  going  to  be  like  I  would  have  hired  a  Sedan 
chair,  and  had  myself  carried  down.  That  is  what  I  have 
been  doing  in  London  ;  but  I  would  rather  have  had  an 
Indian  palkee  that  one  could  have  lain  down  comfort- 
ably in." 

"  What  shall  I  get  you  first,  George  ?  I  have  got  some 
lemons." 

"  I  want  something  better  than  lemons,  John.  Have 
you  any  Burgundy  handy?" 

"Yes,  plenty." 


14  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  If  you  give  a  bottle  to  Ramoo  he  will  know  how 
much  water  I  want." 

Here  the  servant  entered  with  a  tray  with  a  chicken 
and  a  dish  of  kidneys. 

"  I  sent  up  yesterday  for  some  of  the  Indian  things 
that  you  are  accustomed  to,  George,  but  they  have  not 
come  down  yet" 

"  I  brought  a  store  down  with  me.  This  will  do 
capitally  for  the  present.  Ramoo  will  do  the  cooking 
for  me  in  the  future.  He  need  not  go  into  the  kitchen 
to  scare  the  maids.  I  could  see  they  looked  at  him  as 
if  he  had  been  his  infernal  majesty,  as  he  came  in. 
He  can  do  it  anywhere  ;  all  he  wants  is  an  iron  pot 
with  some  holes  in  it,  and  some  charcoal  :  he  can  squat 
out  there  on  the  verandah,  or,  if  it  is  bad  weather,  any 
shed  will  do  for  him.  Well,  it  is  nice  to  be  home 
again,  John,"  he  went  on,  after  he  had  eaten  a  few 
mouthfuls  of  chicken  and  drunk  a  tumbler  of  Burgundy 
and  water.  "  I  am  glad  to  be  back  now  I  am  here, 
though  I  daresay  I  should  not  have  come  home  for 
another  ten  years  if  it  had  not  been  for  this  rascally 
bullet     Where  is  your  boy?" 

"  He  is  away  at  school." 

"  Well,  I  think  I  will  go  up  to  bed  at  once,  if  you 
don't  mind,  John.  I  shall  be  fitter  to  talk  in  the  morn- 
mg. 

The  next  day,  indeed,  Colonel  Thorndyke  was  mate- 
rially better.  His  voice  was  stronger  and  more  cheery, 
and  when  he  came  down  after  breakfast  he  took  his  seat 
in  an  easy-chair  instead  of  on  the  sofa. 

"  Now,  brother,"  he  said,  "  we  will  have  a  cosey  chat 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  15 

There  are  several  things  I  want  done,  but  the  chief  of 
these  is  that  when  I  am  gone  you  should  go  down  to 
Reigate,  as  I  wanted  you  to  do  ten  years  ago.  I  want 
you  to  seem  to  be  its  master,  as  well  as  be  its  master, 
until  Millicent  comes  of  age,  if  not  longer.  Her  name 
is  Millicent  Conyers  Thorndyke.  I  wish  her  to  be 
called  Millicent  Conyers,  and  to  appear  as  your  ward, 
and  not  as  your  niece  and  heiress  of  the  property.  If 
there  is  one  thing  in  the  world  I  have  a  greater  horror 
of  than  another,  it  is  of  a  girl  being  married  for  her 
money.  I  don't  suppose  that  any  one  knows  that  I 
have  a  daughter  ;  at  any  rate,  none  beyond  a  few  Indian 
chums.  She  was  sent  home  with  an  ayah  under  the 
charge  of  the  widow  of  a  comrade  of  mine.  I  had 
been  away  for  months,  and  only  went  back  to  Calcutta 
in  time  to  see  her  mother  die.     So  that  is  all  right." 

"  I  could  not  do  such  a  thing  as  that,  George.  I 
should  be  living  under  false  colours.  It  is  not  that  I 
mind  so  much  leaving  here  and  looking  after  the 
child's  interest  at  Reigate,  but  I  could  not  possibly 
take  possession  of  the  place  as  its  owner  when  I  should 
not  be  so.  Besides,  there  are  other  objections.  Mark 
would  grow  up  supposing  himself  to  be  the  heir." 

"  Mark  will  be  all  right.  I  have,  since  I  have  been 
in  London,  signed  a  will,  leaving  the  rest  of  my  fortune 
between  them.  I  had  it  drawn  up  by  our  father's  solici- 
tors, relying  upon  your  consent  to  do  what  I  asked 
you.  I  have  explained  the  matter  to  them,  and  given 
them  the  assignment,  or  whatever  they  call  it,  of  the 
Reigate  estate  to  you,  until  my  daughter  comes  of  age, 
appointing  them  her  guardians  should  you  die  before 


i6  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

that  Thus,  you  will  be  placed  in  a  proper  position, 
and,  should  it  be  known  by  any  means  that  the  child  is 
my  daughter,  that  deed  will  still  be  a  proof  that  you  are 
carrying  out  my  wishes,  and  are  absolute  master  of  the 
estate  until  she  comes  of  age." 

"  I  must  think  it  all  over,  George.  It  is  a  singular 
proposal,  and  I  own  I  would  rather  things  went  on  in 
their  regular  course." 

*'  Yes,  yes,  I  understand  that,  John,  but  you  see  I 
have  altogether  set  my  mind  on  this  matter.  I  want  to 
know  that  my  girl  is  not  going  to  be  married  for  her 
money ;  and,  at  any  rate,  that  deed  makes  you  master 
of  the  Reigate  estates  for  the  next  thirteen  years  ;  so 
the  only  thing  that  I  really  want  of  you  is  to  let  the 
girl  be  called  your  ward  instead  of  your  niece,  and  that 
she  and  everyone  else  shall  be  in  ignorance  that  she  is 
an  heiress.  So  far  from  doing  the  girl  a  wrong,  you 
will  be  doing  her  a  benefit ;  and,  as  I  have  explained 
the  whole  matter  to  our  lawyers,  no  one  can  possibly 
think  that  the  thing  has  been  done  from  any  motive 
whatever  except  that  of  affording  me  satisfaction." 

"  I  will  think  the  matter  over,"  John  repeated.  "Of 
course,  brother,  it  has  been  in  your  mind  for  some  time, 
but  it  comes  altogether  fresh  to  me,  and  I  must  look  at 
it  in  every  light.  For  myself,  I  have  no  wish  at  all  to 
become  master  of  our  father's  estate.  I  have  been 
going  in  one  groove  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  don't 
care  about  changing  it.  You  wished  me  to  do  so  ten 
years  ago,  and  I  declined  then,  and  the  ten  years  have 
not  made  me  more  desirous  of  change  than  I  was 
before." 


THE   BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  17 

"  All  right,  think  it  over.  Please  send  Ramoo  in  to 
me  ;  I  have  tired  myself  in  talking." 

John  Thorndyke  smoked  many  churchwarden  pipes 
in  the  little  arbour  in  his  garden  that  day.  In  the 
afternoon  his  brother  was  so  weak  and  tired  that  the 
subject  of  the  conversation  was  not  reverted  to.  At 
eight  o'clock  the  colonel  went  off  to  bed.  The  next 
morning,  after  breakfast,  he  was  brighter  again. 

"Well,  John,  what  has  come  of  your  thinking?"  he 
asked. 

"  I  don't  like  it,  George." 

"  You  mayn't  like  it,  John,  but  you  will  do  it.  I  am 
not  going  to  have  my  girl  run  after  by  ruined  spend- 
thrifts who  want  her  money  to  repair  their  fortunes, 
and  I  tell  you  frankly,  if  you  refuse  I  shall  go  up  to 
town  to-morrow  and  I  shall  make  a  new  will  leaving  all 
my  property  to  your  son,  subject  to  a  life  annuity  of 
;^200  a  year  to  the  child,  and  ordering  that,  in  the 
event  of  his  dying  before  he  comes  of  age,  or  of 
refusing  to  accept  the  provisions  of  the  will,  or  hand- 
ing any  of  the  property  or  money  over  to  my  daughter, 
the  whole  estate,  money,  jewels,  and  all,  shall  go  to  the 
London  hospitals,  subject,  as  before,  to  the  annuity. 

"  Don't  be  an  ass,  brother  John.  Do  you  think 
that  I  don't  know  what  I  am  doing?  I  have  seen 
enough  of  the  evils  of  marrying  for  money  out  in  India  ; 
every  ship  that  comes  out  brings  so  many  girls  sent  out 
to  some  relation  to  be  put  on  the  marriage  market,  and 
marrying  men  old  enough  to  be  pretty  nearly  their 
grandfathers,  with  the  natural  consequence  that  there 
is  the  devil  to  pay  before  they  have  been  married  a 


i8  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

year  or  two.  Come,  you  know  you  will  do  it ;  why 
not  give  in  at  once  and  have  done  with  it?  It  is  not 
a  bad  thing  for  you,  it  will  be  a  good  thing  for  your 
boy,  it  will  save  my  girl  from  fortune-hunters,  and  enable 
me  to  die  quietly  and  comfortably," 

"All  right,  George,  I  will  do  it.  Mind,  I  don't  do 
it  willingly,  but  I  do  it  for  your  sake." 

"That  is  right,"  Colonel  Thorndyke  said,  holding 
out  his  thin,  bronzed  hand  to  his  brother ;  "  that  is  off 
my  mind.  Now,  there  is  only  one  other  thing,  those 
confounded  jewels.  But  I  won't  talk  about  them 
now. " 

It  was  not,  indeed,  till  three  or  four  days  later  that  the 
colonel  again  spoke  to  his  brother  on  any  than  ordi- 
nary matters.  He  had,  indeed,  been  very  weak  and  ail- 
ing. After  breakfast,  when,  as  usual,  he  was  a  little 
stronger  and  brighter  than  later  in  the  day,  he  said  to 
his  brother,  suddenly, — 

"I  suppose  there  are  no  hiding-places  in  this  room?" 

"Hiding-places  !     What  do  you  mean,  George?" 

"  Places  where  a  fellow  could  hide  up  and  hear  what 
we  are  talking  about." 

"No,  I  don't  think  so,"  the  Squire  replied,  looking 
round  vaguely ;  "  such  an  idea  never  occurred  to  me. 
Why  do  you  ask?" 

"  Because,  John,  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  hiding- 
place,  someone  will  be  sure  to  be  hiding  there.  Where 
does  that  door  lead  to?" 

"  It  doesn't  lead  anywhere  ;  it  used  to  lead  into  the  next 
room,  but  it  was  closed  up  before  my  time,  and  turned 
into  a  cupboard,  and  this  door  is  permanently  closed." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  19 

"  Do  you  mind  stepping  round  into  the  next  room  and 
seeing  if  anyone  is  in  the  cupboard  ?" 

Thinking  that  his  brother  was  a  httle  hght-headed, 
John  Thomdyke  went  into  the  next  room  and  returned, 
saying,  gravely,  that  no  one  was  there. 

"  Will  you  look  behind  the  curtains,  John,  and  under 
this  sofa,  and  everywhere  else  where  even  a  cat  could  be 
hidden?  That  seems  all  right,"  the  colonel  went  on,  as 
his  brother  continued  the  search.  "  You  know  there  is 
a  saying  that  walls  have  ears,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is 
not  so.  I  have  been  haunted  with  the  feeling  that  every- 
thing I  did  was  watched,  and  that  everything  I  said  was 
listened  to,  for  years  ;  and  I  can  tell  you  it  is  a  devilishly 
unpleasant  thought.  Draw  your  chair  quite  close  to  me. 
It  is  about  my  jewels,  John.  I  always  had  a  fancy  for 
jewels,  not  to  wear  them,  but  to  own  them.  In  my  time 
I  have  had  good  opportunities  in  that  way,  both  in  the 
Madras  Presidency  and  in  the  Carnatic.  In  the  first 
place,  I  have  never  cared  for  taking  presents  in  money  ; 
but  I  have  never  refused  jewels,  and  what  with  rajahs 
and  nabobs  and  ministers  that  one  had  helped  or  done 
a  good  turn  to  somehow,  a  good  deal  came  to  me  that 
way. 

"Then  I  always  made  a  point  of  carrying  money 
with  me,  and  after  a  defeat  of  the  enemy  or  a  success- 
ful siege  there  was  always  lots  of  loot,  and  the  soldiers 
were  glad  enough  to  sell  anything  in  the  way  of  jewels 
for  a  tithe  of  their  value  in  gold.  I  should  say  if  I 
put  the  value  of  the  jewels  at  ;^5o,ooo  I  am  not  much 
wide  of  the  mark.  That  is  all  right ;  there  is  no  bother 
about  them  ;  the  trouble  came  from  a  diamond  bracelet 


20  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

that  I  got  from  a  soldier.  We  were  in  camp  near  Tan- 
jore.  I  was  officer  of  the  day.  I  had  made  my  rounds 
and  was  coming  back  to  my  quarters  when  I  saw  a 
soldier  come  out  of  a  tent  thirty  or  forty  yards  away.  It 
was  a  moonlight  night,  and  the  tent  was  one  belonging 
to  a  white  Madras  regiment.  Suddenly  I  saw  another 
figure,  that  had  been  lying  down  outside  the  tent,  rise. 
I  saw  the  flash  of  the  moonlight  on  steel,  then  there 
was  a  blow,  and  the  soldier  fell.  I  drew  my  sword  and 
rushed  forward. 

"  The  native,  for  I  could  see  that  it  was  a  native,  was 
bending  over  the  man  he  had  stabbed.  His  back  was 
towards  me,  and  on  the  sandy  soil  he  did  not  hear  my 
footsteps  until  I  was  close  to  him  ;  then  he  sprang  up 
with  a  cry  of  fury,  and  leapt  on  me  like  a  tiger.  I  was 
so  taken  by  surprise  that  before  I  could  use  my  sword 
the  fellow  had  given  me  a  nasty  stab  on  the  shoulder,  but 
before  he  could  strike  again  I  had  run  him  through.  By 
this  time  several  other  men  ran  out  of  the  tent,  uttering 
exclamations  of  rage  at  seeing  their  fallen  comrade. 

"  '  What  is  it,  sir  ?'  they  asked  me. 

"  'This  scoundrel,  here,  has  stabbed  your  comrade,'  I 
said.  '  He  did  not  see  me  coming,  and  I  ran  up  just  as 
he  was,  I  think,  rifling  him  for  booty.  He  came  at  me 
like  a  wild  cat,  and  has  given  me  a  nasty  stab.  How- 
ever, I  have  put  an  end  to  his  game.  Is  your  comrade 
dead  ?' 

" '  No,  sir,  he  is  breathing  still,  but  I  fancy  there  is 
little  chance  for  him.' 

" '  You  had  better  carry  him  to  the  hospital  tent  at 
once ;  I  will  send  a  surgeon  there,' 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  21 

"  I  called  the  regimental  surgeon  up,  and  went  with 
him  to  the  hospital  tent,  telling  him  what  had  happened. 
He  shook  his  head  after  examining  the  man's  wound, 
which  was  fairly  between  the  shoulders. 

" '  He  may  live  a  few  hours,  but  there  is  no  chance 
of  his  getting  better.' 

"  *  Now,'  I  said,  '  you  may  as  well  have  a  look  at  my 
wound,  for  the  villain  stabbed  me,  too.' 

"  '  You  have  had  a  pretty  narrow  escape  of  it,'  he 
said,  as  he  examined  it.  '  If  he  had  struck  an  inch  or 
two  nearer  the  shoulder  the  knife  would  have  gone 
right  into  you  ;  but  you  see  I  expect  he  was  springing 
as  he  struck,  and  the  blow  fell  nearly  perpendicularly, 
and  it  glanced  down  over  your  ribs,  and  made  a  gash 
six  inches  long.  There  is  no  danger ;  I  will  bandage  it 
now,  and  to-morrow  morning  I  will  sew  the  edges  to- 
gether, and  make  a  proper  job  of  it' 

"  In  the  morning  one  of  the  hospital  attendants  came 
to  me  and  said  the  soldier  who  had  been  wounded 
wanted  to  speak  to  me.  The  doctor  said  he  would  not 
live  long.  I  went  across  to  him.  He  was  on  a  bed 
some  little  distance  from  any  of  the  others,  for  it  was 
the  healthy  season,  and  there  were  only  three  or  four 
others  in  the  tent 

"  '  I  hear.  Major  Thorndyke,'  he  said,  in  a  low  voice, 
'  that  you  killed  that  fellow  who  gave  me  this  wound, 
and  that  you  yourself  were  stabbed.' 

"  *  Mine  is  not  a  serious  business,  my  man,'  I  said. 
'  I  wish  you  had  got  off  as  easily.' 

"  '  I  have  been  expecting  it,  sir,'  he  said,  '  and  how  I 
came  to  be  fool  enough  to  go  outside  the  tent  by  my- 


22  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

self  I  cannot  think.  I  was  uneasy,  and  could  not  sleep 
— I  felt  hot  and  feverish,  and  came  out  for  a  breath  of 
fresh  air,  I  will  tell  you  what  caused  it,  sir.  About 
two  years  ago  a  cousin  of  mine,  in  one  of  the  king's 
regiments,  who  was  dying,  they  said,  of  fever  (but  I 
know  the  doctors  thought  he  had  been  poisoned),  said 
to  me,  "  Here  are  some  things  that  will  make  your  for- 
tune if  ever  you  get  to  England ;  but  I  tell  you  before- 
hand they  are  dangerous  things  to  keep  about  you.  I 
fancy  that  they  have  something  to  do  with  my  being 
like  this  now.  A  year  ago  I  went  with  some  others 
into  one  of  their  great  temples  on  a  feast  day.  Well, 
the  god  had  got  on  all  his  trinkets,  and  among  them 
was  a  bracelet  with  the  biggest  diamond  I  ever  saw.  I 
did  not  think  so  much  of  it  at  the  time,  but  I  kept  on 
thinking  of  them  afterwards,  and  it  happened  that  some 
months  after  our  visit  we  took  the  place  by  storm.  I 
made  straight  for  the  temple,  and  I  got  the  jewels.  It 
don't  matter  how  I  got  them — I  got  them.  Well,  since 
that  I  have  never  had  any  peace  ;  pretty  near  every 
night  one  or  other  of  our  tents  was  turned  topsy-turvy, 
all  the  kits  turned  out,  and  even  the  ground  dug  up 
with  knives.  You  know  how  silently  Indian  thieves 
can  work.  However,  nothing  was  ever  stolen,  and  as 
for  the  bracelet,  at  the  end  of  every  day's  march  I 
always  went  out  as  soon  as  it  was  quite  dark,  and 
buried  it  between  the  tent  pegs ;  it  did  not  take  a 
minute  to  do.  .  When  we  moved,  of  course,  I  took  it 
up  again.  At  last  I  gave  that  up,  for  however  early  I 
turned  out  in  the  morning,  there  was  sure  to  be  a  native 
about,     I  took  then  to  dropping  it  down  the  barrel  of 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  23 

my  gun  ;  that  way  I  beat  them.  Still,  I  have  always 
somehow  felt  myself  watched,  and  my  tent  has  been 
disturbed  a  great  deal  oftener  than  any  of  the  others. 
I  have  had  half  a  mind  to  throw  the  things  away  many 
a  time,  but  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  do  it." 

"'Well,  sir,  I  have  carried  the  bracelet  ever  since. 
I  have  done  as  he  did,  and  always  had  it  in  my  musket 
barrel.  When  we  had  fighting  to  do  I  would  drop  it 
out  into  my  hand  and  slip  it  into  my  ammunition 
pouch  ;  but  I  know  that  I  have  always  been  followed 
just  as  Bill  was.  I  suppose  they  found  out  that  I  went 
to  see  him  before  he  died.  Anyhow,  my  tent  has  been 
rummaged  again  and  again.  I  have  no  doubt  that  fel- 
low whom  you  killed  last  night  had  been  watching  me 
all  the  time,  and  thought  that  I  had  come  out  to  hide 
the  things.  However,  there  they  are,  sir.  One  of  my 
mates  brought  my  musket  here  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
ago,  and  emptied  the  barrel  out  for  me.  Now,  sir,  you 
did  your  best  to  save  my  life  last  night,  and  you  killed 
that  fellow  who  did  for  me,  and  you  pretty  nearly  got 
killed  yourself 

*' '  I  have  got  no  one  else  I  could  give  the  things  to, 
and  if  I  were  to  give  them  to  one  of  my  mates  in  the 
regiment  they  would  probably  cost  him  his  life  as  they 
have  cost  me  mine.  But  you  will  know  what  to  do 
with  the  things  ;  they  are  worth  a  lot  of  money  if  you 
can  get  them  home.  Mind,  sir,  you  have  got  to  be 
careful.  I  have  heard  tales  of  how  those  priests  will 
follow  up  a  temple  jewel  that  has  been  lost  for  years, 
and  never  give  it  up  until  they  get  it  back  again.' 

" '  I  ought  to  give  it  up,'  I  said. 


24  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

'"You  don't  know  where  it  came  from,  sir,'  he  re- 
plied. *I  was  one  of  a  party  of  convalescents  who 
were  sent  up  just  before  that  fight,  and  my  own  regi- 
ment was  not  there ;  it  might  have  been  here,  and  it 
might  have  been  in  the  Carnatic.  Bill  never  told  me, 
and  I  have  no  more  idea  than  a  babe  unborn.' 

"The  gems  were  certainly  magnificent,  and  though  I 
knew  well  enough  that  these  untiring  Brahmins  would 
not  be  long  in  guessing  that  the  things  had  come  into 
my  possession,  I  took  the  bracelet.  I  thought,  any- 
how, that  I  might  have  a  few  hours  start ;  the  fellow  I 
had  killed  might,  of  course,  have  one  or  two  others 
with  him,  but  I  had  to  risk  that.  I  got  leave  an  hour 
later,  and  went  down  to  Madras  and  got  them  put  into 
a  place  of  safety.  That  I  was  watched  all  the  time  I 
was  in  India  afterwards  I  have  no  doubt,  but  no  at- 
tempts were  made  to  assassinate  me.  They  would 
have  known  that  I  went  straight  away,  but  whether  I 
had  buried  them  somewhere  on  the  road,  or  had  given 
them  to  someone's  care  at  Madras  they  could  not  know, 
and  there  was  therefore  nothing  for  them  to  do  but  to 
wait  till  I  made  a  move. 

"  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  they  came  over  in  the 
same  ship  with  me.  Two  or  three  times  during  the  week 
I  was  in  London  I  saw  coloured  men  in  the  street  out- 
side the  hotel.  Once  it  was  a  Lascar  seaman,  another 
time  a  dark-looking  sailor  in  European  clothes  :  he  might 
pass  for  a  Spaniard.  Several  times  as  I  was  going  about 
in  a  Sedan  chair  I  looked  out  suddenly,  and  each  time 
there  was  a  dark  face  somewhere  in  the  street  behind. 
I  had  a  letter  this  morning  from  Clipstone,  and  he  men- 


■*  I  looked  out  suddenly,  and  each  time  there  was  a  dark  face 
somewhere  in  the  street  behind." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  25 

tioned  that  two  days  ago  his  offices  had  been  broken  into, 
and  every  strong  box  and  drawer  forced  open,  but  that, 
curiously  enough,  they  could  not  find  that  anything  had 
been  stolen,  though  in  the  cashier's  box  there  were 
;^30  in  gold.  Of  course  it  was  my  friend's.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  one  or  two  of  them  followed  me  down 
here ;  and  for  anything  I  know,  they  may  be  lurking 
somewhere  in  your  garden  at  the  present  moment, — that 
is,  if  they  are  not  sitting  bodily  in  this  room." 

John  Thorndyke  looked  round  with  an  uncomfortable 
feeling. 

"  How  do  you  mean,  George?" 

"  I  mean  some  of  those  Indian  fellows  can  do  all  sorts 
of  wonderful  conjuring  tricks.  I  have  seen  them  go  up 
into  the  air  on  a  rope  and  never  come  down  again,  and 
for  aught  I  know  they  may  be  able  to  render  themselves 
invisible.     Seriously,  I  think  that  it  is  as  likely  as  not" 

"Well,  and  where  are  the  things  to  be  found  now, 
George?" 

"That  I  won't  tell  you,  John.  Before  I  go  I  will 
whisper  it  in  your  ear,  and  give  you  the  means  of  finding 
them,  but  not  till  then.  No,  I  will  write  it  down  on  a 
piece  of  paper  and  slip  it  into  your  hand  ;  as  soon  as  you 
get  out  of  the  room  you  glance  at  it,  and  then  put  the 
piece  of  paper  into  your  mouth,  chew  it  up,  and  swallow 
it  I  tell  you  I  dare  not  even  whisper  it ;  but  whatever 
you  do,  take  no  steps  in  the  matter  until  your  son  comes 
of  age." 

"There  can  surely  be  no  danger  in  another  thirteen 
or  fourteen  years,  George  ;  they  will  have  given  up  the 
search  long  before  that" 


26  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

'*  Not  they,"  the  colonel  said,  emphatically.  "  If  they 
die,  others  will  take  their  places  :  it  is  a  sacred  business 
with  them.  My  advice  to  you  is,  either  sell  them  directly 
you  get  them  into  your  hands,  or  go  straight  to  Amster- 
dam and  sell  them  there  to  one  of  the  diamond-cutters, 
who  will  turn  them  out  so  that  they  will  be  altered  be- 
yond all  recognition.  Don't  sell  more  than  two  stones 
at  most  to  any  one  man  ;  then  they  will  never  come  out 
as  a  bracelet  again,  and  the  hunt  will  be  over." 

"  I  would  almost  rather  leave  them  alone  altogether, 
George." 

"  Well,  they  are  worth  ^50,000  if  they  are  worth  a 
penny,  and  a  great  deal  more,  I  should  say ;  but  you 
cannot  leave  them  alone  without  leaving  everything 
alone,  for  all  my  gems  are  with  them,  and  ;^5  2,000  in 
gold.  Of  course,  if  you  like,  you  can,  when  you  get 
the  box,  pick  those  diamonds  out  and  chuck  them  away, 
but  if  you  do  you  must  do  it  openly,  so  that  anyone 
watching  you  may  see  you  do  it,  otherwise  the  search 
will  go  on." 

Two  days  later,  as  Ramoo  was  helping  the  colonel  to 
the  sofa,  the  latter  was  seized  with  a  violent  fit  of  cough- 
ing, then  a  rush  of  blood  poured  from  his  lips.  His 
brother  and  Ramoo  laid  him  on  the  sofa  almost  insen- 
sible. 

"  Run  and  get  some  water,  Ramoo,"  John  Thorndyke 
said. 

As  Ramoo  left  the  room  the  colonel  feebly  placed  his 
snuff-box  in  his  brother's  hand  with  a  significant  glance  ; 
then  he  made  several  desperate  efforts  to  speak,  and  tried 
to  struggle  up  into  a  sitting  position ;  another  gush  of 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  27 

blood  poured  from  him,  and  as  it  ceased  he  fell  back 
dead. 

John  Thorndyke  was  bitterly  grieved  at  the  death  of 
his  brother,  and  it  was  not  until  he  went  up  to  his  room 
that  night  that  he  thought  of  the  snuff-box  that  he  had 
dropped  into  his  pocket  as  his  brother  handed  it  to  him. 
He  had  no  doubt  that  it  contained  the  instructions  as  to 
the  treasure.  It  was  of  Indian  manufacture  ;  he  emptied 
the  snuff  from  it,  but  it  contained  nothing  else.  He  was 
convinced  that  the  secret  must  be  hidden  there,  and  after 
in  vain  endeavouring  to  find  a  spring,  he  took  a  poker 
and  hammered  it,  and  as  it  bent  a  spring  gave  way,  and 
showed  a  very  shallow  false  bottom. 

In  this  was  a  thin  gold  coin,  evidently  of  considerable 
antiquity,  and  a  small  piece  of  paper,  on  which  was 
written  the  word  "  Masulipatam."  John  Thorndyke 
looked  at  it  in  bewilderment ;  that  it  was  connected 
with  the  secret  he  felt  certain,  but  alone  it  was  absolutely 
useless.  Doubtless  his  brother  had  intended  to  give 
him  the  key  of  the  riddle  when  he  had  so  desperately 
striven  to  speak.  After  in  vain  thinking  the  matter 
over  he  said, — 

"  Well,  thank  goodness,  there  is  nothing  to  be  done 
about  the  matter  for  another  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  ; 
it  is  of  no  use  worrying  about  it  now." 

He  went  to  the  old-fashioned  cabinet  and  placed  the 
coin  and  piece  of  paper  in  a  very  cunningly  devised 
secret  drawer.  The  next  morning  he  went  out  into  the 
garden  and  dropped  the  battered  snuff-box  into  the 
well,  and  then  dismissed  the  subject  from  his  mind. 


^^ 

WJm 

i\ 

CHAPTER    11. 


STANDING  some  two  miles  out  of  Reigate  is  the 
village   of  Crowswood,  a  quiet  place  and   fairly- 
well  to  do,  thanks  in  no  small  degree  to  Squire 
Thorndyke,  who  owned  the  whole  of  the  parish,  and  by 
whom  and  his  tenants  the  greater  portion  of  the  village 
were  employed. 

Greatly  had  the  closing  of  the  Manor  House,  after  the 
death  of  old  Squire  Thorndyke,  been  felt.  There  were 
no  more  jellies,  soups,  and  other  comforts  to  be  looked 
for  in  time  of  sickness,  no  abatement  of  rent  when  the 
bread-winner  was  sick  or  disabled,  no  check  to  the 
drunkards  whom  the  knowledge  that  they  would  be 
turned  out  of  their  cottage  at  a  week's  notice  kept  in 
some  sort  of  order.  When,  therefore,  after  ten  years  of 
absence  of  all  government,  John  Thorndyke,  after  the 
death  of  his  brother,  the  colonel,  came  down  and  took 
possession,  he  found  the  place  sadly  changed  from  what 
it  had  been  when  he  had  left  it  twenty  years  before. 
His  first  act  Wcis  to  dismiss  Newman,  who,  completely 
28 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  29 

unchecked,  had,  he  found,  been  sadly  mismanaging 
affairs. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  his  hand  made  itself 
felt:  two  out  of  the  three  public-houses  were  shut  up 
in  six  months  ;  a  score  of  their  habitual  frequenters  had 
weeks  before  been  turned  out  of  their  cottages  ;  an 
order  had  been  issued  that,  unless  a  cottage  was  kept 
in  good  order  and  the  garden  bright  and  blooming 
with  flowers  in  the  summer,  a  fresh  tenant  would  be 
found  for  it.  Every  child  must  be  sent  to  the  village 
school ;  the  Squire  was  ready  to  do  what  there  was  to 
be  done  in  the  way  of  thatching  and  white-washing, 
repairing  palings,  and  painting  doors  and  windows, 
but,  as  he  told  the  people,  the  village  had  to  be  kept 
clean  and  decent,  and  anyone  who  would  not  con- 
form to  the  rules  was  at  liberty  to  leave  without  a  day's 
notice. 

No  one  rejoiced  more  at  the  coming  home  of  the 
Squire  than  Mr.  Bastow,  the  rector.  He  had  had  a 
pleasant  time  of  it  during  the  life  of  the  old  Squire. 
He  was  always  a  welcome  guest  at  the  house  ;  old  Mr. 
Thomdyke  had  been  always  ready  to  put  his  hand  into 
his  pocket  for  any  repairs  needed  for  the  church,  and 
bore  on  his  shoulders  almost  the  entire  expense  of  the 
village  school.  In  the  latter  respect  there  had  been  no 
falling  off,  he  having  given  explicit  instructions  to  his 
solicitors  to  pay  his  usual  annual  subscriptions  to  the 
school  until  his  son's  return  from  India.  But  with  the 
death  of  the  Squire  the  rector  had  gradually  lost  all 
authority  in  the  village. 

For  a  time  force  of  habit  had  had  its  effect,  but  as  this 


30  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

wore  out  and  the  people  recognised  that  he  had  no  real 
authority,  things  went  from  bad  to  worse.  Drunken 
men  would  shout  jeeringly  as  they  passed  the  rectory 
on  their  way  home  from  the  ale-house  ;  women  no  longer 
feared  reproof  for  the  untidiness  of  their  houses  and 
children  ;  the  school  was  half  emptied  and  the  church 
almost  wholly  so. 

For  seven  or  eight  years  Mr,  Bastow  had  a  hard  time 
of  it.  It  was,  then,  both  with  pleasure  as  an  old  friend, 
and  with  renewed  hopefulness  for  the  village,  that  he 
visited  John  Thorndyke  on  his  return.  The  change  was 
almost  instantaneous.  As  soon  as  it  became  known  that 
the  rector  was  backed,  heart  and  soul,  by  the  Squire's 
authority,  and  that  a  complaint  from  him  was  followed 
the  next  day  by  a  notice  to  quit  at  the  end  of  a  week, 
his  own  authority  was  established  as  firmly  as  it  had 
been  in  the  old  Squire's  time,  and  in  a  couple  of  years 
Crowswood  became  quite  a  model  village.  Every  gar- 
den blossomed  with  flowers  ;  roses  and  eglantine  clus- 
tered over  the  cottages  ;  neatness  and  order  prevailed 
everywhere.  The  children  were  tidily  dressed  and  re- 
spectful in  manner,  the  women  bright  and  cheerful,  and 
the  solitary  ale-house  remaining  had  but  few  customers, 
and  those  few  were  never  allowed  to  transgress  the 
bounds  of  moderation.  The  Squire  had  a  talk  with  the 
landlord  a  fortnight  after  his  arrival. 

"  I  am  not  going  to  turn  you  out,  Peters,"  he  said, 
"  I  hear  that  you  make  some  efforts  to  keep  your  house 
decently ;  the  other  two  I  shall  send  packing  directly 
their  terms  are  up.  Whether  you  remain  permanently 
must  depend  upon  yourself     I  will  do  up  your  house 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  31 

for  you  and  build  a  bar  parlour  alongside,  where  quiet 
men  can  sit  and  smoke  their  pipes  and  talk  and  take 
their  beer  in  comfort,  and  have  liberty  to  enjoy  them- 
selves as  long  as  their  enjoyment  does  not  cause  annoy- 
ance to  other  people  or  keep  their  wives  and  children 
in  rags.  I  will  do  anything  for  you  if  I  find  the  place 
well  conducted  ;  but  I  warn  you  that  I  will  have  no 
drunkenness.  A  man  who,  to  my  knowledge,  gets 
drunk  twice,  will  not  get  drunk  a  third  time  in  this 
parish,  and  if  you  let  men  get  drunk  here  it  is  your 
fault  as  much  as  theirs.  Now  we  understand  each 
other." 

When  the  Squire  was  at  home  there  was  scarce  an 
evening  when  the  rector  did  not  come  up  to  smoke  a 
pipe  and  take  his  glass  of  old  Jamaica  or  Hollands  with 
him. 

"  Look  here,  Bastow,"  the  latter  said,  some  three 
years  after  his  return,  "  what  are  you  going  to  do  with 
that  boy  of  yours  ?  I  hear  bad  reports  of  him  from 
everyone  ;  he  gets  into  broils  at  the  ale-house,  and  I 
hear  that  he  consorts  with  a  bad  lot  of  fellows  down  at 
Reigate.  One  of  my  tenants — I  won't  mention  names 
— complained  to  me  that  he  had  persecuted  his  daugh- 
ter with  his  attentions.  They  say  he  was  recognised 
among  that  poaching  gang  that  had  an  affray  with  Sir 
James  Hartrop's  keepers.  The  thing  is  becoming  a 
gross  scandal." 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  do  about  him,  Squire  ;  the 
boy  has  always  been  a  trouble  to  me.  You  see,  before 
you  came  home  he  got  into  bad  hands  in  the  village 
here  ;  of  course  they  have  all  gone,  but  several  of  them 


32  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

only  moved  as  far  as  Reigate,  and  he  kept  up  their 
acquaintance.  I  thrashed  him  again  and  again,  but  he 
has  got  beyond  that  now,  you  see  ;  he  is  nearly  eighteen, 
and  openly  scoffs  at  my  authority.  Upon  my  word,  I 
don't  know  what  to  do  in  the  matter." 

"He  is  growing  up  a  thorough  young  ruffian,"  the 
Squire  said,  indignantly,  "  and  one  of  these  mornings  I 
expect  to  see  him  brought  up  before  us  charged  with 
some  serious  offence.  We  had  to  fine  him  last  week 
for  being  drunk  and  making  a  disturbance  down  at 
Reigate.  Why  do  you  let  him  have  money?  You 
may  have  no  authority  over  him,  but,  at  least,  you 
should  refuse  to  open  your  purse  to  him.  Don't  you 
see  that  this  sort  of  thing  is  not  only  a  disgrace  to  him, 
but  very  prejudicial  to  the  village  ?  What  authority 
can  you  have  for  speaking  against  vice  and  drunken- 
ness, when  your  son  is  constantly  intoxicated?" 

"  I  see  that.  Squire,  none  better ;  and  I  have  thought 
of  resigning  my  cure." 

"  Stuff  and  nonsense,  parson  !  If  the  young  fellow 
persists  in  his  present  course  he  must  leave  the  village, 
that  is  clear  enough  ;  but  that  is  no  reason  why  you 
should.  The  question  is,  what  is  to  be  done  with  him  ? 
The  best  thing  he  could  do  would  be  to  enlist.  He 
might  be  of  some  service  to  his  country,  in  India  or  the 
American  colonies,  but  so  far  as  I  can  see  he  is  only 
qualifying  himself  for  a  gaol  here." 

"I  have  told  him  as  much,  Squire,"  Mr.  Bastow  said, 
in  a  depressed  voice,  "and  he  has  simply  laughed  in 
my  face  and  said  that  he  was  very  comfortable  where 
he  was,  and  had  no  idea  whatever  of  moving." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  33 

"What  time  does  he  go  out  in  the  morning?"  John 
Thorndyke  asked,  abruptly. 

"  He  never  gets  up  till  twelve  o'clock,  and  has  his 
breakfast  when  I  take  my  dinner." 

"Well,  I  will  come  in  to-morrow  morning  and  have  a 
talk  with  him  myself." 

The  next  day  the  Squire  rode  up  to  the  door  of  the 
rectory  soon  after  one  o'clock.  Mr.  Bastow  had  just 
finished  his  meal ;  his  son,  a  young  fellow  of  between 
seventeen  and  eighteen,  was  lolling  in  an  easy-chair. 

"  I  have  come  in  principally  to  speak  to  you,  young 
sir,"  John  Thorndyke  said,  quietly.  "  I  have  been  ask- 
ing your  father  what  you  intend  to  do  with  yourself. 
He  says  he  does  not  know." 

The  young  fellow  looked  up  with  an  air  of  insolent 
effrontery. 

"I  don't  know  that  it  is  any  business  of  yours,  Mr. 
Thorndyke,  what  I  do  with  myself" 

"Oh,  yes,  it  is,"  the  Squire  replied.  "This  village 
and  the  people  in  it  are  mine  ;  you  are  disturbing  the 
village  with  your  blackguard  conduct ;  you  are  annoying 
some  of  the  girls  on  the  estate,  and  altogether  you  are 
making  yourself  a  nuisance.  I  stopped  at  the  ale-house 
as  I  came  here,  and  ordered  the  landlord  to  draw  no 
more  liquor  for  you  ;  and  unless  you  amend  your  con- 
duct, and  that  quickly,  I  will  have  you  out  of  the  village 
altogether." 

"  I  fancy,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  that  even  as  a  justice  of  the 
peace  you  have  not  the  power  to  dictate  to  my  father 
who  shall  be  the  occupant  of  this  house." 

"  What  you  say  is  perfectly  true  ;  but  as  you  make 

3 


34  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

your  father's  life  a  burden  to  him,  and  he  is  desirous  of 
your  absence,  I  can  and  will  order  the  village  constable 
to  remove  you  from  his  house  by  force,  if  necessary." 

The  young  fellow  cast  an  evil  glance  at  his  father. 

"  He  has  not  been  complaining,  has  he  ?' '  he  said, 
with  a  sneer. 

"  He  has  not,  sir,"  John  Thorndyke  said,  indignantly  ; 
"  it  is  I  who  have  been  complaining  to  him,  and  he  ad- 
mits that  you  are  altogether  beyond  his  authority.  I 
have  pointed  out  to  him  that  he  is  in  no  way  obliged  to 
support  you  at  your  age  in  idleness  and  dissipation,  and 
that  it  were  best  for  him  and  all  concerned  that  he  should 
close  his  doors  to  you.  I  don't  want  to  have  to  send  the 
son  of  my  old  friend  to  prison,  but  I  can  see  well  enough 
that  that  is  what  it  will  come  to  if  you  don't  give  up  your 
evil  courses.  I  should  think  you  know  by  this  time  that 
I  am  a  man  of  my  word.  I  have  taken  some  pains  to 
purge  this  village  of  all  bad  characters,  and  I  do  not  in- 
tend to  have  an  exception  made  of  the  son  of  the  clergy- 
man, who  in  his  family,  as  well  as  in  his  own  person,  is 
bound  to  set  an  example." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  I  utterly  decline  to  obey  your 
orders  or  to  be  guided  by  your  advice." 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  the  magistrate  said,  sternly.  "  Mr. 
Bastow,  do  I  understand  that  you  desire  that  your  son 
shall  no  longer  remain  an  inmate  of  your  house?" 

"I  do,"  the  clergyman  said,  firmly;  "and  if  he  does 
so  I  have  no  other  course  before  me  but  to  resign  my 
living ;  my  position  here  has  become  absolutely  un- 
bearable." 

"  Very  well,  sir,  then  you  will  please  lock  your  doors 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  35 

to-night,  and  if  he  attempts  to  enter,  I,  as  a  magistrate, 
should  know  how  to  deal  with  him.  Now,  young  sir, 
you  understand  your  position  ;  you  may  not  take  my 
advice ;  nevertheless,  I  shall  give  it  you.  The  best 
thing  you  can  do  is  to  take  your  place  for  town  on  the 
outside  of  the  coach  that  comes  through  Reigate  this 
afternoon,  and  to-morrow  morning  proceed  either  to  the 
recruiting  office  for  His  Majesty's  service,  or  to  that  for 
the  East  India  Company's.  You  have  health  and 
strength,  you  will  get  rid  at  once  of  your  bad  associates, 
and  will  start  afresh  in  a  life  in  which  you  may  redeem 
your  past  and  be  useful  to  your  king  and  country." 

Young  Bastow  smiled. 

"Thanks,"  he  said,  sarcastically,  "I  have  my  own 
plans,  and  shall  follow  them." 

"  I  think,  Mr.  Bastow,"  the  Squire  said,  quietly,  "  it 
would  be  just  as  well  for  you  to  come  home  with  me  ;  I 
don't  think  that  the  leave-taking  is  likely  to  be  an  affec- 
tionate one." 

The  rector  rose  at  once. 

"  I  will  come  with  you.  Squire.  I  may  tell  you  now, 
what  I  have  not  told  you  before,  that  my  son  has  more 
than  once  raised  his  hand  against  me,  and  that  I  do  not 
care  to  be  left  alone  with  him." 

"  I  judged  him  capable  even  of  that,  Mr,  Bastow," 

"  Good-bye,  Arthur,"  his  father  said  ;  "  my  heart  is 
ready  to  break  that  it  has  come  to  this,  but  for  both 
our  sakes  it  is  better  so.  Good-bye,  my  son,  and  may 
heaven  lead  you  to  better  ways.  If  ever  you  come  to 
me  and  say,  '  Father  I  have  turned  over  a  new  leaf, 
and    heartily  repent   the    trouble  I   have   caused  you,' 


36  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

you  will  receive  a  hearty  welcome  from  me,  and  no  words 
of  reproach  for  the  past." 

The  young  man  paid  no  attention  to  the  offered 
hand,  but  laughed  scornfully. 

"You  have  not  got  rid  of  me  yet,"  he  said.  "As 
for  you.  Squire  Thorndyke,  I  shall  not  forget  your 
meddlesome  interference,  and  some  day,  maybe,  you 
will  be  sorry  for  it." 

"  I  think  not,"  John  Thorndyke  said,  gravely.  "  I 
am  doing  my  duty  to  the  village,  and  still  more  I  am 
doing  my  duty  to  an  old  friend,  and  I  am  not  likely 
ever  to  feel  any  regret  that  I  have  so  acted.  Now, 
parson,  let's  be  off." 

After  leaving  the  house  with  the  clergyman,  the 
Squire  stopped  at  the  house  of  Knapp,  the  village 
constable,  and  said  a  few  words  to  him,  then,  leading 
his  horse,  walked  home  with  Mr.  Bastow. 

"Don't  be  cast  down,  old  friend,"  he  said;  "it  is 
a  terrible  trial  to  you,  but  it  is  one  sharp  wrench,  and 
then  it  will  be  over.  Anything  is  better  than  what  you 
must  have  been  suffering  for  some  time." 

"  I  quite  feel  that,  Squire  ;  my  life  has,  indeed,  been 
intolerable  of  late.  I  had  a  painful  time  before,  but 
always  looked  forward  with  hope  to  your  brother 
coming  home.  Since  you  returned,  and  matters  in 
the  parish  have  been  put  straight,  this  trouble  has 
come  in  to  take  the  place  of  the  other,  and  I  have 
felt  that  I  would  rather  resign  and  beg  for  charity  than 
see  my  son  going  from  bad  to  worse,  a  scandal  to  the 
parish,  and  a  hinderance  to  all  good  work." 

"  It  is  a  bad  business,  Bastow,  and  it  seems  to  me 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  37 

that  two  or  three  years  in  prison  would  be  the  best 
thing  for  him,  as  he  will  not  take  up  the  only  trade 
open  to  him.  At  any  rate,  it  would  separate  him  from 
his  evil  associates,  and  give  you  peace  while  he  is  behind 
the  bars.     Where  does  he  get  his  money?" 

"  That  I  know  not,  Squire.  He  takes  some  from  me, — 
it  used  to  be  done  secretly,  now  it  is  done  with  threats, 
and,  as  I  told  you,  with  violence, — but  that  would  not 
account  for  his  always  having  money.  He  must  get  it 
somewhere  else,  for  when  I  have  paid  my  bills,  as  I 
always  do  the  hour  that  I  receive  money,  there  is  but 
little  over  for  him  to  take.  He  is  often  away  all  night, 
sometimes  for  two  or  three  days  together,  and  I  dare 
not  think  what  he  does  with  himself,  but  certainly  he 
gets  money  somehow,  and  I  am  afraid  that  I  cannot 
hope  that  it  is  honestly  obtained." 

"  I  do  not  well  see  how  it  can  be,"  the  Squire  agreed. 
"  If  I  had  before  known  as  much  as  you  tell  me  now,  I 
would  have  taken  some  steps  to  have  him  watched,  and 
to  nip  the  matter  before  it  went  too  far.  Do  you  think 
that  he  will  take  your  notice  and  come  no  more  to  the 
house  ?" 

Mr.  Bastow  shook  his  head. 

"  I  fear  that  the  only  effect  will  be  to  make  him  worse ; 
even  when  he  was  quite  a  small  boy  punishment  only 
had  that  effect  with  him.  He  will  come  back  to-night 
probably  half-drunk,  and  certainly  furious  at  my  having 
ventured  to  lay  the  case  before  you." 

"  You  must  lock  the  doors  and  bar  the  windows." 

"  I  did  that  when  he  first  took  to  being  out  at  night, 
but  he  always  managed  to  get  in  somehow." 


38  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"Well,  it  must  be  all  put  a  stop  to,  Bastow,  and  I  will 
come  back  with  you  this  evening,  and  if  this  young 
rascal  breaks  into  the  house  I  will  have  him  down  at 
Reigate  to-morrow  on  the  charge  of  house-breaking  ;  or, 
at  any  rate,  I  will  threaten  to  do  so  if  he  does  not 
give  a  promise  that  he  will  in  future  keep  away  from 
you  altogether." 

"  I  shall  be  glad,  at  any  rate,  if  you  will  come  down, 
Squire,  for,  to  say  the  truth,  I  feel  uneasy  as  to  the 
steps  he  may  take  in  his  fury  at  our  conversation  just 
now." 

At  nine  o'clock  John  Thorn  dyke  took  down  from  the 
wall  a  heavy  hunting  whip,  as  he  went  out  with  the 
parson.  He  had  in  vain  endeavoured  to  cheer  his  old 
friend  as  they  sat  over  their  steaming  glasses  of  Jamaica. 
The  parson  had  never  been  a  strong  man  ;  he  was  of  a 
kindly  disposition  and  an  unwearied  worker  when  there 
was  an  opportunity  for  work,  but  he  had  always  shrunk 
from  unpleasantness,  and  was  ready  to  yield  rather  than 
bring  about  trouble.  He  had  for  a  long  time  suffered 
in  silence,  and  had  not  the  Squire  himself  approached 
the  subject  of  his  son's  delinquencies,  he  would  have 
never  opened  his  mouth  about  it.  Now,  however,  that 
he  had  done  so,  and  the  squire  had  taken  the  matter  in 
hand,  and  had  laid  down  what  was  to  be  done,  and 
though  he  trembled  at  the  prospect,  he  did  not  even 
think  of  opposing  his  plan,  and,  indeed,  could  think  of 
no  alternative  for  it 

"  I  have  told  John  Knapp  to  be  here,"  the  Squire 
said,  as  they  reached  the  house.  "  It  is  just  as  well  that 
he  should  be  present  if  your  son  comes  back  again.    He 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  39 

is  a  quiet,  trustworthy  fellow,  and  will  keep  his  mouth 
shut  if  I  tell  him." 

Mr,  Bastow  made  no  reply.  It  was  terrible  to  him 
that  there  should  be  another  witness  to  his  son's  con- 
duct, but  he  saw  that  the  Squire  was  right. 

An  old  woman  opened  the  door. 

"Are  all  the  shutters  closed  and  barred?"  John 
Thorndyke  asked  her. 

"Yes,  sir;  I  always  sees  to  that  as  soon  as  it  gets 
dark." 

"Very  well,  you  can  go  to  bed  now,  Eliza,"  her  mas- 
ter said.      "  Is  John  Knapp  here  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir ;  he  came  an  hour  ago,  and  is  sitting  in 
the  kitchen." 

"  I  will  call  him  in  myself  when  I  want  to  speak  to 
him." 

As  soon  as  the  old  servant  had  gone  upstairs  the 
Squire  went  into  the  kitchen,  Mr.  Bastow  having  gone 
to  the  cellar  to  fetch  up  a  bottle  of  old  brandy  that  was 
part  of  a  two-dozen  case  given  to  him  by  the  old  Squire 
fifteen  years  before. 

"Do  you  go  round  the  house,  John,  and  see  that 
everything  is  properly  fastened  up.  I  see  that  you  have 
got  a  jug  of  beer  there.  You  had  better  get  a  couple 
of  hours'  sleep  on  that  settle.  I  shall  keep  watch  till  I 
am  sleepy,  and  then  I  will  call  you.  Let  me  know  if 
you  find  any  of  the  doors  or  windows  unbarred." 

Five  minutes  later  the  constable  knocked  at  the  door 
of  the  parlour. 

"  The  door  opening  into  the  stable-yard  was  unbarred, 
Squire." 


40  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  I  thought  it  likely  that  it  would  be  so,  Knapp.  You 
have  made  it  fast  now,  I  suppose.  That  is  right ;  now 
lie  down  as  I  told  you  ;  it  is  scarce  likely  that  he  will  be 
back  until  late.  That  was  the  old  woman,  of  course," 
he  went  on  to  his  companion  when  the  door  closed  be- 
hind the  constable.  "  I  thought  it  likely  enough  that  he 
might  tell  her  to  leave  a  way  for  him  to  come  in  ;  you 
told  me  that  she  had  been  with  you  a  good  many  years. 
I  dare  say  she  has  left  that  door  unbarred  for  him  many 
a  time.  I  should  advise  you  to  get  a  man  to  sleep  in 
the  house  regularly  ;  there  are  plenty  of  fellows  who  will 
be  glad  to  do  it  for  a  shilling  or  two  a  week  ;  and  I  do 
not  think  that  it  is  safe  for  you  to  be  here  alone." 

An  hour  later  he  said  to  the  rector, — 

"  Now,  Bastow,  you  had  best  go  to  bed.  I  have  taken 
the  matter  into  my  own  hands,  and  will  carry  it  through. 
However,  I  won't  have  him  taken  away  without  your 
being  present,  and  will  call  you  when  we  want  you.  Of 
course,  if  he  will  give  a  solemn  promise  not  to  molest 
you,  and,  even  if  he  won't  enlist,  to  leave  this  part  of  the 
country  altogether,  I  shall  let  him  off" 

"There  is  one  thing,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  that  I  have  not 
told  you,"  the  rector  said,  hesitatingly.  "Sometimes, 
when  he  comes  home  late,  he  brings  someone  with  him  ; 
I  have  heard  voices  downstairs.  I  have  never  seen  who 
it  was, — for  what  could  I  have  done  if  I  had  gone 
down  ? — but  I  have  heard  horses  brought  round  to  the 
stable-yard  and  heard  them  ride  away." 

"  It  is  just  as  well  you  told  me,"  the  Squire  said,  dryly. 
"  If  you  had  told  me  this  evening  at  the  house,  I  would 
have  dropped  a  brace  of  pistols  into  my  pocket     How- 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  41 

ever,  this  hunting  crop  is  a  good  weapon  ;  but  I  don't 
suppose  they  will  show  fight,  even  if  anyone  is  with  him  ; 
besides,  Knapp  has  a  stout  oaken  cudgel  with  him.  I 
noticed  it  standing  against  his  chair  as  I  went  in  ;  and 
as  he  is  a  strong,  active  fellow,  and  we  shall  have  the 
advantage  of  a  surprise,  I  fancy  we  should  be  a  match 
even  for  three  or  four  of  them." 

At  one  o'clock  the  Squire  roused  John  Knapp. 

"  It  is  one  o'clock,  John  ;  now  take  off  your  boots.  I 
don't  want  him  to  know  that  there  is  anyone  in  the  house 
till  we  get  hold  of  him.  I  am  going  to  lie  down  on  the 
sofa  in  the  parlour.  The  moment  you  hear  footsteps 
you  come  and  wake  me." 

The  clock  in  the  kitchen  had  just  struck  two  when  the 
constable  shook  John  Thorndyke. 

"There  are  two  horses  just  coming  into  the  yard." 

"  All  right.  I  opened  a  window  in  the  room  looking 
down  into  the  yard  before  I  lay  down.  I  will  go  up  and 
see  what  they  are  going  to  do.  If  they  try  to  break  in 
anywhere  down  here,  do  you  come  at  once  quietly  up  to 
me." 

The  Squire  had  taken  off  his  boots  before  he  lay  down, 
and  holding  his  heavy  hunting  crop  in  his  hand,  he  went 
quietly  upstairs.  As  he  went  to  the  window  he  heard 
Arthur  Bastow  say,  angrily, — 

"  Confound  the  old  woman  !  She  has  locked  the 
door ;  she  has  never  played  me  that  trick  before. 
There  is  a  ladder  in  the  stable,  and  I  will  get  in  at  that 
window  up  there  and  open  it  for  you.  Or  you  may  as 
well  come  up  that  way,  too,  and  then  you  can  stow  the 
things  away  in  my  room  at  once,  and  have  done  with  it" 


42  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

The  Squire  went  hastily  down. 

"Come  upstairs,  Knapp,"  he  whispered  to  the  con- 
stable ;  "  there  are  three  of  them,  and  I  fancy  the  two 
mounted  men  are  highwaymen.  Let  them  all  get  in, 
keeping  yourself  well  back  from  the  window.  The 
moon  is  round  on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  but  it 
will  be  light  enough  for  us  to  see  them  as  they  get  in, 
I  will  take  the  last  fellow,  and  I  will  warrant  that  he  will 
give  no  trouble  ;  then  I  will  fall  upon  the  second,  and 
do  you  spring  on  young  Bastow.  The  two  highwaymen 
are  sure  to  have  pistols,  and  he  may  have  some  also. 
Give  him  a  clip  with  that  cudgel  of  yours  first,  then 
spring  on  him,  and  hold  his  arms  tightly  by  his  side. 
If  I  call  you,  give  him  a  back  heel  and  throw  him 
smartly,  and  come  to  my  aid.  I  don't  think  that  I  shall 
want  it,  but  it  is  as  well  to  prepare  for  anything." 

They  went  upstairs  and  took  their  places,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  window,  standing  three  or  four  feet  back. 
Just  as  they  took  up  their  positions  the  top  of  the  stable 
ladder  appeared  above  the  sill  of  the  window.  Half  a 
minute  later  young  Bastow's  head  appeared,  and  he 
threw  up  the  sash  still  higher  and  stepped  into  the  room  ; 
then  he  turned  and  helped  two  men  in  one  after  the 
other. 

"Follow  me,"  he  said,  "then  you  won't  tumble  over 
the  furniture."  As  they  turned,  the  heavy  handle  of 
John  Thorndyke's  whip  fell  with  tremendous  force  on 
the  head  of  the  last  man. 

"What  the  devil!"  the  other  exclaimed,  snatching 
out  a  pistol  and  turning  round,  as  the  falling  body  struck 
him,  but  he  got  no  further.     Again  the  heavy  whip  de- 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  43 

scended,  this  time  on  his  right  arm  ;  it  dropped  useless 
by  his  side,  and  the  pistol  fell  from  his  hand.  Then 
John  Thorndyke  fell  upon  him  and  bore  him  to  the 
ground,  snatched  the  other  pistol  from  his  belt,  and  held 
it  to  his  head. 

"  Now,  my  man,"  he  said,  quietly,  "if  you  don't  sur- 
render I  will  blow  out  your  brains." 

"  I  surrender,"  the  man  moaned.  "  I  believe  that 
you  have  broken  my  arm  ;  curse  you,  whoever  you  are." 

The  struggle  between  John  Knapp  and  young  Bastow 
was  soon  over.  The  young  fellow  was  lithe  and  sinewy, 
but  he  was  no  match  for  the  constable,  who,  indeed, 
had  almost  overpowered  him  before  he  was  aware  what 
had  happened. 

"  Has  he  got  pistols,  Knapp?"  the  Squire  asked. 

"  Yes,  sir,  a  brace  of  them  ;  I  have  got  them  both 
safely  in  my  pocket  There,"  he  went  on,  as  a  sharp 
click  was  heard,  "  I  have  got  the  darbies  on  him.  Now, 
shall  I  help  you,  sir  ?" 

"  You  had  better  run  downstairs  first  and  light  a 
couple  of  candles  at  the  kitchen  fire  ;  you  will  find  a 
pair  standing  on  the  parlour  table.  Don't  be  long  about 
it ;  the  first  fellow  I  hit  was  stunned,  and  he  may  come 
round  any  moment" 

"  I  will  make  sure  of  him  before  I  go,  Squire.  I 
have  got  another  pair  of  darbies  in  my  pocket" 

As  soon  as  he  had  fastened  these  upon  the  wrists  of 
the  insensible  man  he  ran  downstairs,  and  in  a  minute 
returned  with  the  candles. 

"  I  am  glad  that  you  are  back,"  the  Squire  said.  "I 
was  afraid  that  young  rascal  would  try  to  escape." 


44  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  I  took  good  care  of  that,  Squire  ;  you  see  I  put  one 
of  his  arms  round  the  bedpost  before  I  slipped  the 
darbies  on,  and  he  cannot  get  away  unless  he  takes  the 
whole  bed  with  him,  and  as  I  don't  think  he  would  get 
it  out  either  by  the  window  or  the  door,  he  is  as  safe 
here  as  he  would  be  in  Newgate.  What  is  the  next 
thing  to  do.  Squire?" 

"  You  had  better  tie  this  fellow's  legs.  I  will  leave 
you  a  candle  here,  and  you  can  keep  guard  over  them 
while  I  go  and  wake  Mr.  Bastow." 

The  rector  needed  no  waking ;  he  was  walking  up 
and  down  his  room  in  great  distress.  He  had  not  un- 
dressed, but  had  thrown  himself  upon  his  bed. 

"What  has  happened,  Thorndyke?"  he  asked,  as  the 
Squire  entered.  "  I  heard  two  heavy  falls,  and  I  felt 
that  something  terrible  had  taken  place. " 

"Well,  it  has  been  a  serious  matter,  very  serious. 
That  unfortunate  son  of  yours  is  not  hurt,  but  I  don't 
know  but  that  the  best  thing  that  could  have  happened 
would  have  been  for  him  to  have  got  a  bullet  through 
his  head.  He  brought  home  with  him  two  men  who 
are,  I  have  little  doubt,  highwaymen  ;  anyhow,  each 
had  a  brace  of  pistols  in  his  belt,  and  from  what  he 
said  I  think  they  have  been  stopping  a  coach.  At 
any  rate,  they  have  something  with  them  that  they  were 
going  to  hide  here,  and  I  fancy  it  is  not  the  first  time 
that  it  has  been  done.  I  don't  expect  your  son  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  robbery,  though  he  was  carry- 
ing a  brace  of  pistols  too.  However,  we  have  got 
them  all  three. 

"  Now,  you  see,  Bastow,   this    takes    the  affair  alto- 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  45 

gether  out  of  our  hands.  I  had  hoped  that  when  we 
caught  your  son  in  the  act  of  breaking  into  your  house 
after  you  had  ordered  him  from  it,  we  should  be  able  to 
frighten  him  into  enlisting,  or,  at  any  rate,  into  promising 
to  disturb  you  no  more,  for  even  if  we  had  taken  him 
before  the  bench,  nothing  could  have  been  done  to  him, 
for  under  such  circumstances  his  re-entering  the  house 
could  not  be  looked  upon  as  an  act  of  burglary.  As 
it  is,  the  affair  is  altogether  changed.  Even  if  I  wished 
it,  as  a  magistrate  I  could  not  release  those  two  high- 
waymen. They  must  appear  as  prisoners  in  court  I 
shall  hear  down  in  the  town  to-morrow  morning  what 
coach  has  been  stopped,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  they 
have  on  them  the  proceeds  of  the  robbery.  Your  son 
was  consorting  with  and  aiding  them,  and  acting  as  a 
receiver  of  stolen  goods,  and  as  you  have  heard  horses 
here  before,  it  is  probable  that  when  his  room  is  thor- 
oughly searched  we  shall  come  upon  a  number  of 
articles  of  the  same  sort.  I  am  sorry  that  I  ever 
meddled  in  the  matter ;  but  it  is  too  late  for  that  now. 
You  had  better  come  downstairs  with  me,  and  we  will 
take  a  turn  in  the  garden  and  try  and  see  what  had 
best  be  done." 


CHAPTER   III. 


JOHN  THORNDYKE  opened  the  shutters  of  the 
parlour  window,  and  stepped  out  into  the  garden 

alone,  for  the  rector  was  too  unnerved  and  shat- 
tered to  go  out  with  him,  but  threw  himself  on  the 
sofa  completely  prostrated.  Half  an  hour  later,  the 
Squire  re-entered  the  room.  The  morning  was  just 
beginning  to  break.  Mr.  Bastow  raised  his  head  and 
looked  sadly  at  him. 

*'  I  can  see  no  way  out  of  it,  old  friend.  Were  it 
not  that  he  is  in  charge  of  the  constable,  I  should  have 
said  that  your  only  course  was  to  aid  your  son  to  escape  ; 
but  Knapp  is  a  shrewd  fellow,  as  well  as  an  honest  one. 
You  cannot  possibly  get  your  son  away  without  his 
assistance,  for  he  is  handcuffed  to  the  bed,  and  Knapp, 
in  so  serious  a  matter  as  this,  would  not,  I  am  sure,  lend 
himself  to  an  escape.  I  have  no  doubt  that  with  my 
influence  with  the  other  magistrates,  and,  indeed,  on  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  they  will  commit  him  on  a 
minor  charge  only,  as  the  passengers  of  the  coach  will 

46 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  47 

no  doubt  give  evidence  that  it  was  stopped  by  mounted 
men  alone.  I  think  I  can  get  Knapp  to  hold  his 
tongue  as  to  your  son  having  pistols  on  him  when  he 
arrested  him,  and  I  think,  therefore,  that  he  would  only 
be  charged  with  consorting  with  and  aiding  the  high- 
waymen after  the  event,  and  of  aiding  them  to  con- 
ceal stolen  goods,  that  is,  if  any  are  found  in  his  room. 
"  That  much  stolen  property  has  been  hidden  there, 
there  is  little  reason  to  doubt,  but  it  may  have  been 
removed  shortly  afterwards.  It  was,  of  course,  very 
convenient  for  them  to  have  some  place  where  they 
could  take  things  at  once  and  then  ride  on  quietly  to 
London  the  next  day,  for,  if  arrested,  nothing  would  be 
found  upon  them,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  con- 
nect them  with  the  robbery.  Later  on  they  might 
have  come  back  again  and  got  them  from  him.  Of 
course,  if  nothing  is  found  in  his  room,  we  get  rid  of 
the  charge  of  receiving  altogether,  and  there  would  be 
nothing  but  harbouring,  aiding,  and  abetting,  a  much 
less  serious  business.  Look  here,  old  friend,  I  will 
strain  a  point  I  will  go  out  into  the  garden  again  and 
walk  about  for  an  hour,  and  while  I  am  out,  if  you 
should  take  advantage  of  my  absence  to  creep  up  to 
your  son's  room  and  to  search  it  thoroughly,  examining 
every  board  on  the  floor,  to  see  if  it  is  loose,  and 
should  you  find  anything  concealed,  to  take  it  and 
hide  it,  of  course  I  cannot  help  it.  The  things,  if  there 
are  any,  might  secretly  be  packed  up  by  you  in  a  box 
and  sent  up  to  Bow  Street,  with  a  line  inside,  saying 
that  they  are  proceeds  of  robbery,  and  that  you  hope 
the  owners  will  be  traced  and  their  property  restored  to 


48  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

them.  Not,  of  course,  in  your  own  hand,  and  without 
a  signature.  There  might  be  some  httle  trouble  in 
managing  it,  but  it  could  no  doubt  be  done." 

John  Thorndyke  went  out  into  the  garden  without 
another  word.  The  hour  was  nearly  up  when  Mr.  Bas- 
tow  came  out ;  he  looked  ten  years  older  than  he  had 
done  on  the  previous  day  ;  he  wrung  his  friend's  hand. 

"Thank  God,  I  have  been  up  there!"  he  said.  "I 
do  not  think  they  will  find  anything." 

"  Say  nothing  about  it,  Bastow.  I  don't  want  to  know 
whether  you  found  anything.  Now  I  am  going  to  fetch 
two  or  three  of  the  men  from  the  village,  to  get  them  to 
aid  the  constable  in  keeping  guard,  and  another  to  go 
up  to  the  house  at  once  and  order  a  groom  to  saddle 
one  of  my  horses  and  bring  it  here." 

As  it  was  now  past  five  o'clock,  and  the  Squire  found 
most  of  the  men  getting  up,  he  sent  one  off  to  the  house 
with  the  message  and  returned  with  two  others  to  the 
rectory.  He  told  them  briefly  that  two  highwaymen 
had  been  arrested  during  the  night,  and  that  as  young 
Mr.  Bastow  was  in  their  company  at  the  time  it  had 
been  necessary  as  a  matter  of  form  to  arrest  him  also. 
He  went  upstairs  with  the  two  labourers. 

"  I  have  brought  up  two  men  to  sit  with  you,  Knapp, 
until  the  Reigate  constables  come  up.  You  can  take 
those  handcuffs  off  Mr.  Bastow,  but  see  that  he  does 
not  leave  the  room  ;  and  do  you  yourself  sit  in  a  chair 
against  the  door,  and  place  one  of  these  men  at  the 
window.     How  about  the  others  ?" 

"The  man  you  hit  first.  Squire,  did  not  move  until  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  ago  ;  he  has  been  muttering  to  him- 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  49 

self  since,  but  I  don't  think  he  is  sensible.  The  other 
one  has  been  quiet  enough,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
his  arm  is  broken." 

"  I  am  going  to  ride  down  to  Reigate  at  once,  and  will 
bring  back  a  surgeon  with  me." 

"  You  will  repent  this  night's  business,  Thomdyke," 
Arthur  Bastow  said,  threateningly. 

"  I  fancy  that  you  will  repent  it  more  than  I  shall, 
Bastow  ;  it  is  likely  that  you  will  have  plenty  of  time  to 
do  so." 

It  was  not  long  before  the  groom  with  the  horse  ar- 
rived. John  Thorndyke  went  at  a  gallop  to  Reigate, 
and  first  called  on  the  head  constable. 

*'  Dawney,"  he  said,  as  the  man  came  down,  partially 
dressed,  at  his  summons,  "has  anything  taken  place 
during  the  night?" 

"  Yes,  Squire,  the  up  coach  was  stopped  a  mile  before 
it  got  here,  and  the  passengers  robbed.  It  was  due  here 
at  one,  and  did  not  come  in  till  half  an  hour  later.  Of 
course,  I  was  sent  for.  The  guard  was  shot  There 
were  two  of  the  fellows.  He  let  fly  with  his  blunder- 
buss, but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  hit  either  of  them, 
and  one  rode  up  and  shot  him  dead ;  then  they  robbed 
all  the  passengers.  They  got  six  gold  watches,  some 
rings,  and,  adding  up  the  amounts  taken  from  all  the 
passengers,  about  ;^I50  in  money." 

"Well,  I  fancy  I've  got  your  two  highwaymen  safe, 
Dawney." 

"You  have,  sir?"  the  constable  said,  in  astonish- 
ment 

"  Yes.    I  happened  to  be  at  the  rectory.     Mr.  Bastow 

4 


50  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

had  had  a  quarrel  with  his  son,  and  had  forbidden  him 
the  house." 

The  constable  shook  his  head. 

"  I  am  afraid  he  is  a  very  bad  one,  that  young  chap." 

"  I  am  afraid  he  is,  Dawney.  However,  his  father 
was  afraid  that  he  might  come  in  during  the  night  and 
make  a  scene,  so  I  said  I  would  stop  with  him,  and  I 
took  our  village  constable  with  me.  At  two  o'clock 
this  morning  the  young  fellow  came  with  two  mounted 
men,  whom  I  have  no  doubt  are  highwaymen.  We  had 
locked  up  down  below.  Bastow  took  a  ladder,  and  the 
three  got  in  at  a  bedroom  window  on  the  first  floor, 
Knapp  and  I  were  waiting  for  them  there,  and,  taking 
them  by  surprise,  succeeded  in  capturing  them  before 
the  highwaymen  could  use  their  pistols.  The  constable 
and  two  men  are  looking  after  them,  but  as  one  has  not 
got  over  a  knock  I  gave  him  on  the  head,  and  the  other 
has  a  broken  arm,  there  is  little  fear  of  their  making 
their  escape.  You  had  better  go  up  with  two  of  your 
men  and  take  a  light  cart  with  you  with  some  straw  in 
the  bottom,  and  bring  them  down  here.  I  will  ride 
round  myself  to  Mr.  Chetwynde,  Sir  Charles  Harris,  and 
Mr.  Merchison,  and  we  will  sit  at  twelve  o'clock.  You 
can  send  round  a  constable  with  the  usual  letters  to  the 
others,  but  those  three  will  be  quite  enough  for  the  pre- 
liminary examination." 

"  Well,  Squire,  that  is  good  news,  indeed.  We  have 
had  the  coach  held  up  so  often  within  five  miles  of  this 
place  during  the  past  three  months  that  we  have  been 
getting  quite  a  bad  name.  And  to  think  that  young 
Bastow  was  in  it  !     I  have  heard  some  queer  stories 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  51 

about  him,  and  fancied  before  long  I  should  have  to  put 
my  hand  upon  his  shoulder,  but  I  didn't  expect  this." 

' '  There  is  not  a  shadow  of  proof  that  he  had  anything 
to  do  with  the  robbery,  Dawney,  but  he  will  have  diffi- 
culty in  proving  that  he  did  not  afterwards  abet  them. 
It  is  serious  enough  as  it  is,  and  I  am  terribly  grieved 
for  his  father's  sake, " 

' '  Yes,  sir ;  I  have  always  heard  him  spoken  of  as  a 
kind  gentleman,  and  one  who  took  a  lot  of  trouble 
whenever  any  one  was  sick.  Well,  sir,  I  will  be  off  in 
twenty  minutes.  I  will  run  round  at  once  and  send  Dr. 
Hewett  to  the  rectory,  and  a  man  shall  start  on  horse- 
back at  seven  o'clock  with  the  summons  to  the  other 
magistrates. " 

John  Thorndyke  rode  round  to  his  three  fellow  magis- 
trates, who,  living  nearest  to  the  town,  were  most  regu- 
lar in  their  attendance  at  the  meetings.  They  all  listened 
in  surprise  to  his  narrative,  and  expressed  great  pleasure 
at  hearing  that  the  men  who  had  been  such  a  pest  to 
the  neighbourhood,  and  had  caused  them  all  personally 
a  great  deal  of  trouble,  had  been  captured.  All  had 
heard  tales,  too,  to  Arthur  Bastow's  disadvantage,  and 
expressed  great  commiseration  for  his  father.  They 
agreed  to  meet  at  the  court  half  an  hour  before  busi- 
ness began,  to  talk  the  matter  over  together. 

"  It  is  out  of  the  question  that  we  can  release  him  on 
bail,"  the  gentleman  who  was  chairman  of  the  bench 
said. 

"Quite  so,"  John  Thorndyke  agreed.  "In  the  first 
place,  the  matter  is  too  serious,  and  in  the  next  he  cer- 
tainly would  not  be  able  to  find  bail,  and  lastly,  for  his 


52  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

father's  sake,  it  is  unadvisable  that  he  should  be  let  out ; 
at  the  same  time,  it  appears  to  me  that  there  is  a  broad 
distinction  between  his  case  and  the  others.  I  fear  that 
there  can  be  no  question  that  he  had  prior  acquaintance 
with  these  men,  and  that  he  was  cognizant  of  the  whole  ; 
something  I  heard  him  say,  and  which,  to  my  regret,  I 
shall  have  to  repeat  in  court,  almost  proves  that  he  was 
so  ;  still,  let  us  hope  none  of  the  stolen  property  will  be 
found  upon  him  ;  whether  they  had  intended  to  pass  it 
over  to  his  care  or  not  is  immaterial.  If  they  had  not 
done  so,  I  doubt  whether  he  could  be  charged  with  re- 
ceiving stolen  goods,  and  we  might  make  the  charge 
simply  one  of  aiding  these  two  criminals,  and  of  being  so 
far  an  accessory  after  the  crime. 

"  If  we  could  soften  it  down  still  further,  I  should, 
for  his  father's  sake,  be  glad,  but  as  far  as  he  himself  is 
concerned,  I  would  do  nothing  to  lighten  his  punish- 
ment ;  he  is  about  as  bad  a  specimen  of  human  nature  as 
I  ever  came  across.  His  father  is  in  bodily  fear  of  him. 
I  saw  him  yesterday,  and  urged  him  to  enlist  in  order 
to  break  himself  loose  from  the  bad  companionship  he 
had  fallen  into  ;  his  reply  was  insolent  and  defiant  in 
the  highest  degree,  and  it  was  then  that  in  his  father's 
name  I  forbade  him  the  house,  and,  as  his  father  was 
present,  he  confirmed  what  I  said,  and  told  him  that  he 
would  not  have  anything  more  to  do  with  him.  This 
affair  may  do  him  good,  and  save  his  neck  from  a  noose. 
A  few  years  at  the  hulks  or  a  passage  to  Botany  Bay 
will  do  him  no  harm,  and,  at  any  rate,  his  father  will  have 
rest  and  peace,  which  he  never  would  have  if  he  re- 
mained here." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  53 

A  somewhat  similar  conversation  took  place  at  each 
house.  John  Thorndyke  breakfasted  at  Sir  Charles  Har- 
ris's, the  last  of  the  three  upon  whom  he  called,  and 
then  mounting,  rode  back  to  Reigate. 

"We  have  found  the  plunder  on  them,"  the  head 
constable  said,  coming  out  of  the  lock-up  cis  he  drew 
rein  before  it,  "  and,  fortunately  for  young  Bastow,  noth- 
ing was  found  upon  him." 

"  How  are  the  two  men  ?" 

"  The  fellow  you  hit  is  conscious  now,  sir,  but  very 
weak.  The  doctor  says  that  if  he  hadn't  had  a  thick 
hat  on,  your  blow  would  have  killed  him  to  a  certainty. 
The  other  man's  arm  is  set  and  bandaged,  and  he  is  all 
right  otherwise.  We  shall  be  able  to  have  them  both 
in  court  at  twelve  o'clock." 

The  Squire  rode  up  to  his  house.  He  was  met  at  the 
door  by  his  son,  in  a  state  of  great  excitement 

"  Is  it  all  true,  father  ?  The  news  has  come  from  the 
village  that  you  have  killed  two  men,  and  that  they  and 
Arthur  Bastow  have  all  been  taken  away  in  a  cart, 
guarded  by  constables." 

"As  usual,  Mark,  rumour  has  exaggerated  matters. 
There  are  no  dead  men  ;  one  certainly  got  a  crack  on 
the  head  that  rendered  him  insensible  for  some  time, 
and  another's  arm  is  broken." 

"  And  are  they  highwaymen,  father  ?  They  say  that 
two  horses  were  fastened  behind  the  cart" 

"That  is  what  we  are  going  to  try,  Mark.  Until 
their  guilt  is  proved,  no  one  knows  whether  they  are 
highwaymen  or  not" 

"And  why  is  Arthur  Bastow  taken,  father?" 


54  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  Simply  because  he  was  in  company  with  the  others. 
Now,  you  need  not  ask  any  more  questions,  but  if  you 
hke  to  get  your  pony  saddled  and  ride  down  with  me 
to  Reigate  at  eleven  o'clock,  I  will  get  you  into  the 
court-house,  and  then  you  will  hear  all  about  it." 

At  greater  length  the  Squire  went  into  the  matter 
with  Mrs.  Cunningham,  his  lady  housekeeper,  and  his 
ward's  governess. 

"  It  is  a  bad  business,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  she  said, 
"and  must  be  terrible  for  poor  Mr.  Bastow." 

"Yes,  terrible.  I  sincerely  hope  that  they  will  not 
summon  him,  but  I  am  afraid  that  there  is  very  little 
doubt  about  it ;  they  are  sure  to  want  to  know  about  his 
son's  general  conduct,  though  possibly  the  testimony  on 
that  point  of  the  constable  at  Reigate  will  be  sufficient. 
My  own  hope  is  that  he  will  get  a  long  sentence  ;  at 
any  rate,  one  long  enough  to  ensure  his  not  coming 
back  during  his  father's  lifetime.  If  you  had  seen  his 
manner  when  we  were  talking  to  him  yesterday,  you 
would  believe  that  he  is  capable  of  anything.  I  have  had 
a  good  many  bad  characters  before  me  during  the  year 
and  a  half  that  I  have  sat  upon  the  bench,  but  I  am  bound 
to  say  that  I  never  saw  one  that  was  to  my  eyes  so  thor- 
oughly evil  as  this  young  fellow.  I  don't  think,"  he 
added,  with  a  smile,  "  that  I  should  feel  quite  comfort- 
able myself  if  he  were  acquitted  ;  it  will  be  a  long 
time  before  I  shall  forget  the  expression  of  his  face  when 
he  said  to  me  this  morning,  '  You  will  repent  this  nights' 
work,  Thorndyke.'  " 

"  It  is  all  very  shocking,"  the  lady  said.  "What  will 
poor  Mr.   Bastow  do  ?     I  should  think  that  he  would 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  55 

not  like  to  remain  as  clergyman  here,  where  everyone 
knows  about  it." 

"That  must  be  for  him  to  decide,"  the  Squire  said  ; 
"  but  if  he  wishes  to  resign  I  certainly  shall  not  press 
him  to  continue  to  hold  the  living.  He  is  a  very  old 
friend  of  mine.  My  father  presented  the  living  to  him 
when  I  was  nine  or  ten  years  old,  and  I  may  say  I  saw 
him  daily  up  to  the  time  when  I  went  down  into  Sussex. 
If  he  resigns,  I  should  urge  him  to  take  up  his  residence 
here,  and  to  act  as  Mark's  tutor ;  and  he  might  also 
relieve  you  of  some  of  Millicent's  lessons.  You  have 
plenty  to  do  in  looking  after  the  management  of  things 
in  general.     However,  that  is  for  the  future." 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  Squire  drove  down  to  Reigate, 
taking  Mark  with  him.  "  It  will  save  all  bother  about 
putting  up  the  horse  and  pony." 

On  arriving,  he  handed  Mark  over  to  the  head  con- 
stable and  asked  him  to  pass  him  into  a  seat  in  the 
court-house  before  the  public  were  let  in.  Reigate  was 
in  a  state  of  unusual  unrest.  That  the  coach  should 
have  been  stopped  and  robbed  was  too  common  an 
event  to  excite  much  interest,  but  that  two  highwaymen 
should  have  been  captured  and,  as  was  rumoured,  a 
young  gentleman  brought  in  on  a  charge  of  being  in 
connection  with  them,  caused  a  thrill  of  excitement. 
Quite  a  small  crowd  was  assembled  before  the  court- 
house, and  the  name  of  Squire  Thorndyke  passed  from 
mouth  to  mouth. 

All  this  added  to  the  desire  of  those  around  to  get 
into  the  court,  and  there  was  quite  a  rush  when  the 
doors  were  opened  two  minutes  before  twelve,  and  it 


56  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

was  at  once  crammed,  the  constable  having  some  diffi- 
culty in  getting  the  doors  shut,  and  in  persuading  those 
who  could  not  get  in  that  there  was  not  standing  room 
for  another  person.  There  was  a  buzz  in  court  until 
the  door  opened  and  six  magistrates  came  in.  It  was 
observed  that  John  Thorndyke  did  not  seat  himself 
with  the  others,  but  moved  his  chair  a  little  apart  from 
them,  thus  confirming  the  report  that  he  was  in  some 
way  connected  with  the  matter,  and  did  not  intend  to 
take  any  part  in  the  decision. 

Then  another  door  opened  and  the  three  prisoners 
were  brought  in.  The  two  first  were  pale  and  evidently 
weak  ;  one  had  his  head  wrapped  in  bandages,  the  other 
had  the  right  sleeve  of  his  coat  cut  off,  and  his  arm 
bandaged  and  supported  by  a  sling. 

Both  made  a  resolute  effort  to  preserve  a  careless 
demeanour.  The  third,  who  was  some  years  younger 
than  the  others,  looked  round  with  a  smile  on  his  lips, 
bowed  to  the  magistrates  with  an  air  of  insolent  bravado 
when  he  was  placed  in  the  dock,  and  then  leant  easily 
in  the  corner,  as  if  indifferent  to  the  whole  business. 
A  chair  was  placed  between  his  comrades  for  the  use 
of  the  man  whose  head  was  bandaged.  Many  among 
those  present  knew  Arthur  Bastow  by  sight,  and  his 
name  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth,  but  the  usher 
called  loudly  for  silence,  and  then  the  magistrates* 
clerk  rose. 

"  William  Smith  and  John  Brown — at  least  these  are 
the  names  given — are  charged  with  stopping  the  South 
Coast  coach  last  night,  killing  the  guard,  and  robbing 
the   passengers ;   and   Arthur  Bastow  is   charged  with 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  57 

aiding  and  abetting  the  other  two  prisoners,  and  with 
guilty  knowledge  of  their  crime." 

It  was  noticed  by  those  who  could  see  the  prisoners' 
faces,  that,  in  spite  of  Bastow's  air  of  indifference,  there 
was  an  expression  of  anxiety  on  his  face  as  the  charge 
was  read,  and  he  undoubtedly  felt  relief  as  that  against 
himself  was  mentioned.  The  first  witness  was  John 
Knapp,  and  the  constable  stepped  into  the  witness 
box. 

"  What  do  you  know  of  this  business,  Knapp  ?"  the 
chairman  asked.      "Just  tell  it  your  own  way." 

"  I  am  constable  of  Crowswood,  your  honour,  and 
yesterday  Squire  Thorndyke  said  to  me " 

"  No,  you  must  not  tell  it  like  that,  Knapp ;  you 
must  not  repeat  what  another  person  said  to  you.  You 
can  say  that  from  information  received  you  did  so  and 
so." 

"Yes,  your  honour..  From  information  received  I 
went  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bastow's  house,  at  a  quarter  to 
nine  last  night  At  nine  o'clock  Squire  Thorndyke  and 
the  parson  came  in  together.  They  sent  the  servant,  up 
to  bed,  and  then  the  Squire  sent  me  round  to  examine 
the  fastenings  of  the  doors.  I  found  that  one  back 
door  had  been  left  unfastened,  and  locked  and  bolted 
it  The  Squire  told  me  to  lie  down  until  one  o'clock, 
and  he  would  watch,  and  Mr.  Bastow  went  up  to  bed." 

"  Do  you  know  of  your  own  knowledge  why  these 
precautions  were  taken  ?" 

"  Only  from  what  I  was  told,  your  honour.  At  one 
o'clock  the  Squire  woke  me,  and  he  lay  down  in  the 
parlour,  telling  me  to  call  him  if  I  heard  any  movement 


58  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

outside.  About  two  o'clock  I  heard  two  horses  come 
into  the  parson's  yard.  I  called  Squire  Thorndyke, 
who  went  upstairs  to  an  open  window  ;  presently  some- 
one came  and  tried  the  back  door.  I  heard  voices  out- 
side, but  could  not  hear  what  was  said  The  Squire 
came  down  and  called  me  upstairs.  I  went  up  and 
took  my  place  at  one  side  of  the  window,  and  the 
Squire  took  his  on  the  other.  I  had  this  cudgel  in  my 
hand  and  the  Squire  his  riding  whip.  A  ladder  was  put 
up  against  the  window  and  then  someone  came  up, 
lifted  the  sash  up  high,  and  got  in.  There  was  light 
enough  for  me  to  see  it  was  young  Mr.  Bastow.  Then 
the  two  other  prisoners  came  up.  When  the  third  had 
got  into  the  room  Mr.  Bastow  said,  '  Follow  me,  and 
then  you  won't  tumble  over  the  furniture.'  " 

"  How  was  it  that  they  did  not  see  you  and  Mr. 
Thorndyke?"  the  chairman  asked. 

"  We  were  standing  well  back,  your  honour ;  the 
moon  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  house.  There  was 
light  enough  for  us  to  see  them  as  they  got  in  at  the 
window,  but  where  we  were  standing  it  Wcis  quite  dark, 
especially  to  chaps  who  had  just  come  in  from  the 
moonlight  As  they  moved,  the  Squire  hit  the  Icist  of 
them  a  clout  on  the  head  with  his  hunting  crop,  and 
down  he  went,  as  if  shot  The  man  next  to  him  turned, 
but  I  did  not  see  what  took  place,  for,  as  the  Squire 
had  ordered  me,  I  made  a  rush  at  Mr.  Bastow  and  got 
my  arms  round  him  pretty  tight,  so  as  to  prevent  him 
using  his  pistols  if  he  had  any.  He  struggled  hard,  but 
without  saying  a  word,  till  I  got  my  heel  behind  his  and 
threw  him  on  his  back.     I  came  down  on  the  top  of 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  59 

him,  then  I  got  the  pistols  out  of  his  belt  and  threw 
them  on  the  bed,  slipped  the  handcuffs  on  to  one  wrist, 
lifted  him  up  a  bit,  and  then  shoved  him  up  against  the 
bedpost,  and  got  the  handcuff  on  to  his  other  wrist,  so 
that  he  could  not  shift  away,  having  the  post  in  between 
his  arms. 

"Then  I  went  to  see  if  the  Squire  wanted  any  help, 
but  he  didn't.  I  first  handcuffed  the  man  whose  head 
he  had  broken,  and  tied  the  legs  of  the  other,  and  then 
kept  guard  over  them  till  morning.  When  the  consta- 
bles came  up  from  town  we  searched  the  prisoners,  and 
on  two  of  them  found  the  watches,  money,  and  rings. 
We  found  nothing  on  Mr.  Bastow  but  two  pistols.  I 
went  with  the  head  constable  to  Mr.  Bastow' s  room 
and  searched  it  thoroughly,  but  found  nothing  whatever 
there." 

The  evidence  created  a  great  sensation  in  court 
John  Thorn  dyke  had  not  carried  out  his  first  intention 
of  asking  the  witness  not  to  make  any  mention  of  the 
fact  that  Arthur  Bastow  was  carrying  pistols.  The  more 
he  had  thought  over  the  matter,  the  more  convinced 
was  he  that  the  heavier  the  sentence  the  better  it  would 
be  for  the  rector,  and  when  he  had  heard  from  the  lat- 
ter that  there  was  nothing  left  in  his  son's  room  that 
could  be  brought  against  him,  and  that  he  could  not  be 
charged  with  the  capital  crime  of  being  a  receiver,  he 
thought  it  best  to  let  matters  take  their  course. 

The  head  constable  was  the  next  witness.  He  de- 
posed to  the  finding  of  the  articles  produced  upon  the 
two  elder  prisoners  and  the  unsuccessful  search  of  the 
younger  prisoner's  room. 


6o  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"You  did  not  search  the  house  further?"  the  chair- 
man enquired. 

"  No,  sir ;  I  wanted  to  get  the  prisoners  down  here 
as  fast  as  I  could,  seeing  that  two  of  them  were  seriously 
hurt." 

The  chairman  nodded. 

"You  will,  of  course,  make  a  careful  search  of  the 
whole  house,  constable." 

"  Yes,  sir ;  I  left  one  of  my  men  up  there  with  instruc- 
tions to  allow  no  one  to  go  upstairs  until  I  returned." 

"Quite  right." 

John  Thorndyke  was  the  next  witness,  and  his  evi- 
dence cleared  up  what  had  hitherto  been  a  mystery  to 
the  general  body  of  the  public,  as  to  how  he  and  the 
constable  happened  to  be  in  the  house  on  watch  when 
the  highwaymen  arrived.  The  most  important  part  of 
his  evidence  was  the  repetition  of  the  words  young  Bas- 
tow  had  used  as  he  mounted  the  ladder,  as  they  showed 
that  it  was  arranged  between  the  prisoners  that  the 
stolen  goods  should  be  hidden  in  the  house.  The 
Squire  was  only  asked  one  or  two  questions. 

"  I  suppose,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  that  you  had  no  idea 
whatever  that  the  younger  prisoner  would  be  accompa- 
nied by  anyone  else  when  he  returned  home  ?" 

"  Not  the  slightest,"  the  Squire  replied.  "  I  was  there 
simply  to  prevent  this  unfortunate  lad  from  entering  the 
house,  when  perhaps  he  might  have  used  violence  to- 
wards his  father.  My  intention  was  to  seize  him  if  he 
did  so,  and  to  give  him  the  choice  of  enlisting,  as  I  had 
urged  him  to  do,  or  of  being  brought  before  this  bench 
for  breaking  into  his  father's  house.     I  felt  that  anything 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  6i 

was  better  than  his  continuing  in  the  evil  courses  on 
which  he  seemed  bent," 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I  must  comphment 
you  in  the  name  of  my  brother  magistrates,  and  I  may 
say  of  the  pubHc,  for  the  manner  in  which  you,  at  con- 
siderable risk  to  yourself,  have  effected  the  capture  of 
the  two  elder  prisoners," 

After  consulting  with  the  others  the  head  constable 
was  recalled. 

"  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  character  of  the 
younger  prisoner?" 

"Yes,  sir.  We  have  had  our  eye  upon  him  for  some 
time.  He  was  brought  before  your  honours  a  week  ago, 
charged  with  being  drunk  and  disorderly  in  this  town, 
and  was  fined  £$•  ^^  is  constantly  drinking  with  some 
of  the  worst  characters  in  the  place,  and  is  strongly  sus- 
pected of  having  been  concerned  in  the  fray  between 
the  poachers  and  Sir  Charles  Harris's  game-keepers. 
Two  of  the  latter  said  that  they  recognised  him  amongst 
the  poachers,  but  as  they  both  declined  to  swear  to  him 
we  did  not  arrest  him." 

John  Knapp  was  then  recalled,  and  testified  to  Bas- 
tow's  drinking  habits,  and  that  the  landlord  of  the  ale- 
house at  Crowswood  had  been  ordered  by  the  Squire 
not  to  draw  any  liquor  for  him  in  the  future  on  pain  of 
having  the  renewal  of  his  license  refused. 

"Have  you  any  more  witnesses  to  call?"  the  chair- 
man asked  the  head  constable. 

"  Not  at  present,  your  honour.  We  have  sent  up  to 
town,  and  on  the  next  occasion  the  coachman  will  be 
called  to  testify  to  the  shooting  of  the  guard,  and  we 


62  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

hope  to  have  some  of  the  passengers  here  to  identify 
the  articles  stolen  from  them." 

"  It  will  be  necessary  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bastow  should 
be  here.  He  need  not  be  called  to  give  evidence  un- 
less we  think  it  to  be  of  importance,  but  he  had  better 
be  in  attendance.  The  prisoners  are  remanded  until  this 
day  week." 

An  hour  later  the  three  prisoners,  handcuffed,  were 
driven  under  an  escort  of  three  armed  constables  to 
Croydon  gaol.  When  again  brought  up  in  court  the 
passengers  on  the  coach  identified  the  articles  taken 
from  them,  the  coachman  gave  evidence  of  the  stopping 
of  the  coach  and  of  the  shooting  of  the  guard.  The 
head  constable  testified  that  he  had  searched  the  rec- 
tory from  top  to  bottom  and  found  nothing  whatever  of 
a  suspicious  nature.  None  of  the  passengers  were  able 
to  testify  to  the  two  elder  prisoners  as  the  men  who  had 
robbed  them,  as  these  had  been  masked,  but  the  height 
and  dress  corresponded  to  those  of  the  prisoners,  and 
the  two  Bow  Street  runners  then  came  forward  and  gave 
evidence  that  the  two  elder  prisoners  were  well  known 
to  them.  They  had  long  been  suspected  of  being  high- 
waymen, and  had  several  times  been  arrested  when  riding 
towards  London  on  occasions  when  a  coach  had  been 
stopped  the  night  before,  but  no  stolen  goods  had  ever 
been  found  upon  them,  and  in  no  case  had  the  passen- 
gers been  able  to  swear  to  their  identity.  One  was 
known  among  his  associates  as  "Galloping  Bill,"  the 
other  as  the  "Downy  One." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  evidence  the  three  prisoners 
were  formally  committed  for  trial,  the  magistrates  having 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  63 

retired  in  consultation  for  some  time  upon  the  question 
of  whether  the  charge  of  receiving  stolen  goods  ought 
to  be  made  against  Arthur  Bastow. 

Mr.  Bastow  had  not  been  called  as  a  witness.  John 
Thorndyke  had  brought  him  down  to  Reigate  in  a  closed 
carriage,  and  he  had  waited  in  the  justices'  room  while 
the  examination  went  on  ;  but  the  magistrates  agreed 
that  the  evidence  given  was  amply  sufficient  for  them  to 
commit  upon  without  giving  him  the  pain  of  appearing. 
John  Thorndyke  had  taken  him  to  another  room  while 
the  magistrates  were  consulting  together,  and  when  he 
heard  the  result  drove  him  back  again. 

"  I  have  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  resign  my  living, 
Thorndyke.  I  could  not  stand  up  and  preach  to  the 
villagers  of  their  duties  when  I  myself  have  failed  so 
signally  in  training  my  own  son  ;  nor  visit  their  houses 
and  presume  to  lecture  them  on  their  shortcomings 
when  my  son  is  a  convicted  criminal." 

"  I  quite  see  that,  old  friend,"  the  Squire  said.  "And 
I  had  no  doubt  but  that  you  would  decide  on  this  course. 
I  will  not  try  to  persuade  you  to  change  your  decision, 
for  I  feel  that  your  power  of  usefulness  is  at  an  end  as 
far  as  the  village  is  concerned.  May  I  ask  what  you 
propose  to  do  ?  I  can  hardly  suppose  that  your  savings 
have  been  large." 

"Two  years  ago  I  had  some  hundreds  laid  by,  but 
they  have  dwindled  away  to  nothing ;  you  can  under- 
stand how.  For  a  time  it  was  given  freely,  then  reluc- 
tantly; then  I  declared  I  would  give  no  more,  but  he 
took  it  all  the  same — he  knew  well  enough  that  I  could 
never  prosecute  him  for  forgery." 


64  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"As  bad  as  that,  eh?"  Thorndyke  said,  sternly. 
"  Well,  we  won't  talk  further  of  him  now ;  what  I  pro- 
pose is,  that  you  should  take  up  your  abode  at  the 
Hall.  I  am  not  satisfied  with  the  school  where  Mark 
has  been  for  the  last  two  years,  and  I  have  been  hesi- 
tating whether  to  get  a  private  tutor  for  him  or  to  send 
him  to  one  of  the  public  schools,  I  know  that  that 
would  be  best,  but  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  do  so. 
I  have  some  troubles  of  my  own  that  but  two  or  three 
people  know  of,  and  now  that  everything  is  going  on 
smoothly  on  the  estate  and  in  the  village,  I  often  feel 
dull,  and  the  boy's  companionship  does  me  much  good  ; 
and  as  he  knows  many  lads  of  his  own  age  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood now,  I  think  that  he  would  do  just  as  well  at 
home. 

"He  will  be  taking  to  shooting  and  hunting  before 
long,  and  if  he  is  to  have  a  tutor,  there  is  no  one  I 
should  like  to  have  better  than  yourself  You  know  all 
the  people,  and  we  could  talk  comfortably  together  of 
an  evening  when  the  house  is  quiet.  Altogether  it  will 
be  an  excellent  arrangement  for  me.  You  would  have 
your  own  room,  and  if  I  had  company  you  need  not 
join  them  unless  you  liked.  The  house  would  not 
seem  like  itself  without  you,  for  you  have  been  asso- 
ciated with  it  as  long  as  I  can  remember.  As  to  your 
going  out  into  the  world  at  the  age  of  sixty,  it  would  be 
little  short  of  madness.  There — you  need  not  give  me 
an  answer  now,"  he  went  on,  seeing  that  the  rector  was 
too  broken  down  to  speak,  "  but  I  am  sure  that  when  you 
think  it  over  you  will  come  to  the  same  conclusion  that  I 
do, — that  it  will  be  the  best  possible  plan  for  us  both." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  trial  of  the  two  highwaymen  and  Arthur  Bas- 
tow  came  off  in  due  course.     The  evidence  given 
was  similar  to  that  at  Reigate,  the  only  addition 
being  that  Mr.  Bastow  was  himself  put  into  the  box. 
The  counsel  for  the  prosecution  said, — 

'•  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  call  you,  Mr.  Bastow ;  we 
all  feel  most  deeply  for  you,  and  I  will  ask  you  only 
two  or  three  questions.  Was  your  son  frequently  out 
at  night?" 

"He  was." 

"  Did  you  often  hear  him  return  ?" 

"Yes  ;  I  seldom  went  to  sleep  until  he  came  back." 

"  Had  you  any  reason  to  suppose  that  others  re- 
turned with  him?" 

"  I  never  saw  any  others." 

"But  you  might  have  heard  them  without  seeing 
them.     Plecise  tell  us  if  you  ever  heard  voices  ?' ' 

"Yes,  I  have  heard  men's  voices,"  the  clergyman 
said,  reluctantly,  in  a  low  voice. 

5  65 


66  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  One  more  question,  and  I  have  done.  Have  you 
on  some  occasions  heard  the  sound  of  horses'  hoofs  in 
your  yard  at  about  the  time  that  your  son  came  in  ?" 

"  I  have,"  said  Mr.  Bastow,  in  a  low  voice. 

"  Had  you  any  suspicion  whatever  of  the  character 
of  your  son's  visitors?" 

"  None  whatever.  I  supposed  that  those  with  him 
were  companions  with  whom  he  had  been  spending  the 
evening." 

Mr.  Bastow  had  to  be  assisted  from  the  witness-box, 
so  overcome  was  he  with  the  ordeal.  He  had  not 
glanced  at  his  son  while  giving  his  evidence  ;  the  latter 
and  his  two  fellow-prisoners  maintained  throughout  the 
trial  their  expression  of  indifference.  The  two  high- 
waymen nodded  to  acquaintances  they  saw  in  the  body 
of  the  court,  smiled  at  various  points  in  the  evidence, 
and  so  conducted  themselves  that  there  were  murmured 
exclamations  of  approval  of  their  gameness  on  the  part 
of  the  lower  class  of  the  public.  The  jury,  without  a 
moment's  hesitation,  found  them  all  guilty  of  the  offences 
with  which  they  were  charged.  Bastow  was  first  sen- 
tenced. 

"Young  man,"  the  judge  said,  "young  as  you  are, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  in  the  minds  of  anyone 
who  has  heard  the  evidence  that  you  have  been  an  asso- 
ciate with  these  men  who  have  been  found  guilty  of 
highway  robbery  accompanied  by  murder.  I  consider 
that  a  merciful  view  was  taken  of  your  case  by  the 
magistrates  who  committed  you  for  trial,  for  the  evi- 
dence of  your  heart-broken  father,  on  whose  grey  hairs 
your  conduct  has  brought  trouble  and  disgrace,  leaves 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  67 

no  doubt  that  you  have  for  some  time  been  in  league 
with  highwaymen,  although  not  actually  participating 
in  their  crime.  The  words  overheard  by  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke  show  that  you  were  prepared  to  hide  their  booty 
for  them,  and  it  is  well  for  you  that  you  were  captured 
before  this  was  done,  and  that  no  proceeds  of  other  rob- 
beries were  found  in  the  house.  The  evidence  of  the  Bow 
Street  officers  show  that  it  had  for  some  time  been  sus- 
pected that  these  men  had  an  accomplice  somewhere  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Reigate,  for  although  arrested  sev- 
eral times  under  circumstances  forming  a  strong  assump- 
tion of  their  guilt,  nothing  was  ever  found  upon  them. 
There  can  now  be  little  doubt  who  their  accomplice  was. 
Had  you  been  an  older  man  I  should  have  sentenced 
you  to  transportation  for  life,  but  in  consideration  of 
your  youth,  I  shall  take  the  milder  course  of  sentencing 
you  to  fifteen  years'  transportation." 

The  capital  sentence  was  then  passed  in  much  fewer 
words  upon  the  two  highwaymen.  As  they  were  leaving 
the  dock,  Bastow  turned,  and,  in  a  clear  voice,  said  to 
John  Thorndyke,  who  had  been  accommodated  with  a 
seat  in  the  well  of  the  court, — 

"  I  have  to  thank  you,  Thorndyke,  for  this.  I  will 
pay  off  my  debt  some  day,  you  may  take  your  oath." 

Mr.  Bastow,  as  soon  as  he  had  given  his  evidence, 
had  taken  a  hackney  coach  to  the  inn  where  he  and  the 
Squire  had  put  up  on  their  arrival  in  town  the  evening 
before,  and  here,  on  his  return,  John  Thorndyke  found 
him.      He  was  lying  on  his  bed  in  a  state  of  prostration, 

"Cheer  up,  Bastow,"  he  said,  putting  his  hand  upon 
the  rector's  shoulder,    "the  sentence  is  fifteen  years, 


68  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

which  was  the  very  amount  I  hoped  that  he  would  get. 
The  more  one  sees  of  him  the  more  hopeless  it  is  to 
expect  that  any  change  will  ever  take  place  in  him,  and 
it  is  infinitely  better  that  he  should  be  across  the  sea, 
where  his  conduct,  when  his  term  is  over,  can  affect  no 
one ;  the  disgrace,  such  as  it  is,  to  his  friends,  is  no 
greater  in  a  long  term  than  in  a  short  one.  Had  he 
got  off  with  four  or  five  years'  imprisonment,  he  would 
have  been  a  perpetual  trouble  and  a  source  of  uneasi- 
ness, not  to  say  alarm  ;  and  even  had  he  left  you  alone, 
we  should  always  have  been  in  a  state  of  dread  as  to 
his  next  offence ;  better  that  he  should  be  out  in  the 
colonies  than  be  hanged  at  Tyburn." 

"  How  did  he  take  the  sentence  ?" 

"  With  the  same  bravado  he  had  shown  all  through, 
and  as  he  went  out  of  the  dock  he  addressed  a  threat 
to  me  that,  under  the  circumstances,  I  can  very  well 
afford  to  despise.  Now,  if  you  will  take  my  advice, 
you  will  drink  a  couple  of  glasses  of  good  port  and 
then  go  to  bed,  I  will  see  to  your  being  awakened  at 
seven  o'clock,  which  will  give  us  time  to  breakfast  com- 
fortably and  to  make  a  start  at  nine." 

The  rector  ate  a  biscuit,  mechanically  sipped  another 
glass  of  wine,  and  was  even  able  to  eat  a  kidney  when 
they  were  brought  up.  Although  September  was  not 
yet  out,  the  Squire  had  a  fire  lighted  in  the  room,  and 
after  the  meal  was  over,  and  two  steaming  tumblers  of 
punch  were  placed  upon  the  table,  he  took  a  long  pipe 
from  the  mantel,  filled  and  lighted  it,  then  filled  another, 
and  handed  it  to  the  rector,  at  the  same  time  holding 
out  a  light  to  him. 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  69 

"  Life  has  its  consolations,"  he  said.  "  You  have  had 
a  lot  of  trouble  one  way  and  another,  Bastow,  but  we 
may  hope  that  they  are  all  over  now,  and  that  life  will 
go  more  smoothly  and  easily  with  you  ;  we  had  better 
leave  the  past  alone  for  the  present.  I  call  this  snug : 
a  good  fire,  a  clean  pipe,  a  comfortable  chair,  and  a 
steaming  bowl  at  one's  elbow." 

The  rector  smiled  faintly, 

"It  seems  unnatural,"  he  began. 

"Not  at  all,  not  at  all,"  the  Squire  broke  in  ;  "you 
have  had  a  tremendous  load  on  your  mind,  and  now  it 
is  lifted  off;  the  thunder  cloud  has  burst,  and,  though 
damage  has  been  done,  one  is  thankful  that  it  is  no 
worse.  Now  I  can  talk  to  you  of  a  matter  that  has 
been  on  my  mind  for  the  last  three  weeks.  What  steps 
do  you  think  that  I  ought  to  take  for  finding  a  succes- 
sor for  you  ?  It  is  most  important  to  have  a  man  who 
will  be  a  real  help  in  the  parish,  as  you  have  been, 
would  pull  with  one  comfortably,  and  be  a  pleasant 
associate.  I  don't  want  too  young  a  fellow,  and  I  don't 
want  too  old  a  one.  I  have  no  more  idea  how  to  set 
about  it  than  a  child.  Of  course,  I  could  ask  the  bishop 
to  appoint,  but  I  don't  know  that  he  would  appoint  at 
all  the  sort  of  man  I  want.  The  living  is  only  worth 
;^200  a  year  and  the  house,  no  very  great  catch,  but 
there  is  many  a  man  that  would  be  glad  to  have 
it." 

"  I  have  been  thinking  it  over,  too,  Thomdyke,  when 
I  could  bring  my  mind  to  consider  anything  but  my 
own  affairs.  How  would  Greg  do?  He  has  been 
taking  duty  for  me  since  I  could  not  do  it  myself.     I 


JO      '       THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

know  that  he  is  a  hard-working  fellow,  and  he  has  a 
wife  and  a  couple  of  children ;  his  curacy  is  only  £yo 
a  year,  and  it  would  be  a  perfect  Godsend,  for  he  has  no 
influence  in  the  church,  and  he  might  be  years  without 
preferment." 

"  I  should  think  he  would  do  very  well,  Bastow. 
Yes,  he  reads  well,  which  I  own  I  care  for  a  good  deal 
more  than  the  preaching ;  not  that  I  have  anything  to 
say  against  that ;  he  gives  sound  and  practical  sermons, 
and  they  have  the  advantage  of  being  short,  which  is  a 
great  thing.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  good  in  itself,  and 
in  the  second,  specially  important  in  a  village  congrega- 
tion, where  you  know  very  well  every  woman  present  is 
fidgeting  to  get  home  to  see  that  the  pot  is  not  boiling 
over,  or  the  meat  in  the  oven  is  not  burnt. 

"Yes,  I  will  go  down  to-morrow  afternoon  and  ask 
him  if  he  would  like  the  living.  You  were  talking  of 
selling  the  furniture  ;  how  much  do  you  suppose  it  is 
worth  ?" 

"  I  don't  suppose  it  will  fetch  above  ;^70or  ;^8o  ;  it  is 
solid  and  good,  but  as  I  have  had  it  in  use  nearly  forty 
years,  it  would  not  go  for  much." 

"Well,  let  us  say  ;^ioo,"  the  Squire  said.  "I  will 
give  you  a  cheque  for  it.  I  daresay  Greg  will  find  it 
difficult  to  furnish,  and  he  might  have  to  borrow  the 
money,  and  the  debt  would  be  a  millstone  round  his 
neck,  perhaps,  for  years,  so  I  will  hand  it  over  with  the 
rectory  to  him." 

So  they  talked  for  an  hour  or  two  on  village  matters, 
and  the  Squire  was  well  pleased,  when  his  old  friend 
went  up  to  bed,  that  he  had  succeeded  in  diverting  his 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  71 

thoughts  for  a  time  from  the  painful  subject  that  had 
engrossed  them  for  weeks. 

"You  have  slept  well/'  he  said,  when  they  met  at 
breakfast  ;  "  I  can  see  by  your  face." 

' '  Yes  ;  I  have  not  slept  so  soundly  for  months.  I 
went  to  sleep  as  soon  as  my  head  touched  the  pillow, 
and  did  not  wake  until  the  chamber-maid  knocked  at 
my  door." 

"  That  second  glass  of  punch  did  it,  Bastow.  It  is  a 
fine  morning  ;  we  shall  have  a  brisk  drive  back.  I  am 
very  glad  that  I  changed  my  mind  and  brought  the  gig 
instead  of  the  close  carriage." 

In  the  afternoon  the  Squire  drove  into  Reigate.  He 
found  the  curate  at  home,  and  astonished  and  delighted 
him  by  asking  him  if  he  would  like  the  living  of  Crows- 
wood.  It  came  altogether  as  a  surprise  to  him,  for  the 
rector's  intentions  to  resign  had  not  been  made  public, 
and  it  was  supposed  in  the  village  that  he  was  only  stay- 
ing at  the  Squire's  until  this  sad  affair  should  be  over. 
Greg  was  a  man  of  seven-  or  eight-and- twenty,  had  grad- 
uated with  distinction  at  Cambridge,  but  having  no  in- 
fluence, had  no  prospects  of  promotion,  and  the  offer 
almost  bewildered  him. 

"I  should  be  grateful,  indeed,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  he 
said.  "  It  would  be  a  boon  to  us.  Will  you  excuse 
me  for  a  moment  ?"  And  opening  a  door,  he  called  for 
his  wife,  who  was  trying  to  keep  the  two  children  quiet 
there,  having  retired  with  them  hastily  when  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke  was  announced.  "  What  do  you  think,  Emma  ?" 
her  husband  said,  excitedly,  as  she  came  into  the  room. 
"  Mr.  Thorndyke  has  been  good  enough  to  offer  me  the 


72  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

living  of  Crowswood."  Then  he  recovered  himself. 
"  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,  for  my  unmannerliness  in  not 
first  introducing  my  wife  to  you." 

"  It  was  natural  that  you  should  think  of  telling  her 
the  news  first  of  all,"  the  Squire  said,  courteously. 
"  Madam,  I  am  your  obedient  servant,  and  I  hope  that 
soon  we  shall  get  to  know  each  other  well.  I  consider 
it  of  great  importance  that  the  squire  of  a  parish  and 
the  rector  should  work  well  together,  and  see  a  great 
deal  of  each  other.  I  don't  know  whether  you  are 
aware,  Mr.  Greg,  that  the  living  is  worth  ;^200  a  year, 
besides  which  there  is  a  paddock  of  about  ten  acres, 
which  is  sufficient  for  the  keep  of  a  horse  and  cow.  The 
rectory  is  a  comfortable  one,  and  I  have  arranged  with 
Mr.  Bastow  that  he  shall  leave  his  furniture  for  the  ben- 
efit of  his  successor.  It  will  include  linen,  so  that  you 
will  be  put  to  no  expense  whatever  in  moving  in.  I 
have  known  these  first  expenses  to  seriously  cripple  the 
usefulness  of  a  clergyman  when  appointed  to  a  living." 

"That  is  kind  of  you,  indeed,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the 
curate  said.  "We  have  been  living  in  these  lodgings 
since  we  first  came  here,  and  it  will,  indeed,  make  mat- 
ters easy  to  have  the  question  of  furniture  so  kindly  set- 
tled for  us." 

"Will  your  rector  be  able  to  release  you  shortly?" 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  will  do  that  at  once.  His 
son  has  just  left  Oxford  and  taken  deacon's  orders,  and 
the  rector  told  me  that  he  should  be  glad  if  I  would 
look  out  for  another  curacy,  as  he  wanted  his  son  here 
with  him.  He  spoke  very  kindly,  and  said  that  he 
should  make  no  change  until  I  could  hear  of  a  place  to 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  73 

suit  me.  His  son  has  been  assisting  him  for  the  last 
month,  since  I  took  the  services  at  Crowswood,  and  I 
am  sure  he  would  release  me  at  once." 

"Then  I  should  be  glad  if  you  will  move  up  as  soon 
as  possible  to  the  rectory.  I  know  nothing  about  the 
necessary  forms,  but  I  suppose  that  Mr.  Bastow  will 
send  in  his  resignation  to  the  bishop,  and  I  shall  write 
and  tell  him  that  I  have  appointed  you,  and  you  can 
continue  to  act  as  you  have  done  until  you  can  be  for- 
mally inducted  as  the  rector.  Perhaps  you  would  not 
mind  going  round  to  your  rector  at  once  and  telling 
him  of  the  offer  you  have  had.  I  have  one  or  two 
matters  to  do  in  the  town,  and  will  call  again  in  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour.  I  shall  be  glad  to  tell  Mr.  Bas- 
tow that  you  will  come  into  residence  at  once." 

Never  were  a  pair  more  delighted  than  Parson  Greg 
and  his  wife  when  two  days  later  they  took  possession 
of  their  new  home,  half  a  dozen  women  having  been  at 
work  the  day  before,  and  everj-thing  being  in  perfect 
order.  To  Mrs.  Greg's  relief  she  found  that  the  old 
servant  had  already  gone,  the  Squire  having  himself  in- 
formed her  that  Mrs.  Greg  would  bring  her  own  maid 
with  her.  Mr.  Bastow  said  that  he  would  allow  her 
half  a  crown  a  week  as  long  as  she  lived,  and  the  Squire 
added  as  much  more,  and  as  the  woman  had  saved  a 
good  deal  during  her  twenty  years'  service  with  the 
rector,  she  was  perfectly  satisfied. 

The  news  of  the  change  at  the  rectory  naturally  occa- 
sioned a  great  deal  of  talk.  At  first  there  was  a  general 
feeling  of  regret  that  Mr,  Bastow  had  gone,  and  yet  it 
was  felt  that  he  could  not  have  been  expected  to  stay ; 


74  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

the  month's  experience  that  they  had  had  of  the  new 
parson  had  cleared  the  way  for  him.  He  and  his  wife 
soon  made  themselves  familiar  with  the  villagers,  and, 
being  bright  young  people,  speedily  made  themselves 
liked.  The  Squire  and  Mrs.  Cunningham  called  the 
first  afternoon  after  their  arrival. 

"  You  must  always  send  up  if  anything  is  wanted, 
Mr.  Greg ;  whenever  there  is  any  illness  in  the  village, 
we  always  keep  a  stock  of  soups  and  jellies,  and  Mrs. 
Cunningham  is  almoner  in  general.  Is  there  anything 
that  we  can  do  for  you  ?  If  so,  let  me  know  without 
hesitation." 

"Indeed,  there  is  nothing,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  It  is 
marvellous  to  us  coming  in  here  and  finding  everything 
that  we  can  possibly  want" 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greg  dined  regularly  at  the  Squire's 
once  a  week. 

"  Have  you  had  that  Indian  servant  of  yours  long, 
Mr.  Thorndyke?"  Mrs.  Greg  asked  one  day.  "He  is 
a  strange-looking  creature.  Of  course,  in  the  daytime, 
when  one  sees  him  about  in  ordinary  clothes,  one  does 
not  notice  him  so  much,  but  of  an  evening  in  that 
Eastern  costume  of  his  he  looks  very  strange." 

"  He  was  the  servant  of  the  colonel,  my  brother," 
the  Squire  replied.  "  He  brought  him  over  from  India 
with  him.  The  man  had  been  some  years  in  his  service 
and  was  very  attached  to  him,  and  had  saved  his  life 
more  than  once,  he  told  me.  On  one  occasion  he 
caught  a  cobra  by  the  neck  as  it  was  about  to  strike 
my  brother's  hand  as  he  sat  at  table  ;  he  carried  it  out 
into  the  compound,  as  George  called  it,  but  which  means, 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  75 

he  told  me,  garden,  and  there  let  it  escape.  Another 
time  he  caught  a  thug,  which  means  a  sort  of  robber 
who  kills  his  victims  by  strangling  before  robbing  them. 
They  are  a  sort  of  sect  who  regard  strangling  as  a 
religious  action,  greatly  favoured  by  the  bloodthirsty 
goddess  they  worship.  He  was  in  the  act  of  fastening 
the  twisted  handkerchief,  used  for  the  purpose,  round 
my  brother's  neck,  when  Ramoo  cut  him  down.  The 
closest  shave,  though,  was  when  George,  coming  down 
the  country,  was  pounced  upon  by  a  tiger  and  carried 
off  Ramoo  seized  a  couple  of  muskets  from  the  men 
and  rushed  into  the  jungle  after  him,  and  coming  up 
with  the  brute  killed  him  at  the  first  shot.  George 
escaped  with  a  broken  arm  and  his  back  laid  open  by 
a  scratch  of  the  tiger's  claws  as  it  first  seized  him. 

"So  at  George's  death  I  took  Ramoo  on,  and  have 
found  him  a  most  useful  fellow.  Of  course,  it  was 
some  little  time  before  I  became  accustomed  to  his 
noiseless  way  of  going  about,  and  it  used  to  make  me 
jump  when  I  happened  to  look  round  and  saw  him 
standing  quietly  behind  me,  when  I  thought  I  was  quite 
alone.  However,  as  soon  as  I  became  accustomed  to 
him,  I  got  over  all  that,  and  now  I  would  not  lose  him 
for  anything ;  he  seems  to  know  instinctively  what  I 
want.  He  is  excellent  as  a  waiter  and  valet ;  I  should 
feel  almost  lost  without  him  now,  and  the  clumping 
about  of  an  English  man-servant  would  annoy  me  as 
much  as  his  noiseless  way  of  going  about  did  at  first 
He  has  come  to  speak  English  very  fairly.  Of  course, 
my  brother  always  talked  to  him  in  his  own  tongue ; 
still  he  had  picked  up  enough  English  for  me  to  get  on 


^6  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

with  ;  now  he  speaks  it  quite  fluently.  When  I  have 
nothing  whatever  for  him  to  do,  he  devotes  himself  to 
my  little  ward.  She  is  very  fond  of  him,  and  it  is 
quite  pretty  to  see  them  together  in  the  garden.  Alto- 
gether I  would  not  part  with  him  for  anything." 

John  Thorndyke  had  occasionally  made  enquiries  of 
Mr.  Bastow  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  his  son.  At  the 
time  the  sentence  was  passed  transportation  to  the 
American  colonies  was  being  discontinued,  and  until 
other  arrangements  could  be  made  hulks  were  estab- 
lished as  places  of  confinement  and  punishment ;  but  a 
few  months  later  he  was  one  of  the  first  batch  of  con- 
victs sent  out  to  the  penal  settlement  formed  on  the 
east  coast  of  Australia.  This  was  intended  to  be  fixed 
at  Botany  Bay,  but  it  having  been  found  that  this  bay 
was  open  and  unsheltered,  it  was  established  at  Sydney, 
although  for  many  years  the  settlement  retained  in  Eng- 
land the  name  of  the  original  site.  As  the  condition  of 
the  prisoners  kept  in  the  hulks  was  deplorable,  the 
Squire  had,  through  the  influence  of  Sir  Charles  Harris, 
obtained  the  inclusion  of  Arthur  Bastow's  name  among 
the  first  batch  of  those  who  were  to  sail  for  Australia. 

Mr.  Bastow  obtained  permission  to  see  his  son  before 
sailing,  but  returned  home  much  depressed,  for  he  had 
been  assailed  with  such  revolting  and  blasphemous  lan- 
guage by  his  son,  that  he  had  been  forced  to  retire  in 
horror  at  the  end  of  a  few  minutes. 


CHAPTER    V. 


SIX  years  after  Arthur  Bastow  had  sailed  the  Squire 
learned  that  there  had  been  a  revolt  of  the  con- 
victs ;  several  had  been  killed  and  the  mutiny 
suppressed,  but  about  a  dozen  had  succeeded  in  getting 
away.  These  had  committed  several  robberies  and  some 
murders  among  the  settlers,  and  a  military  force  from 
the  prison  were  scouring  the  country  for  them. 

"Of  course,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  official  said,  "the 
Governor  in  his  report  does  not  give  us  the  names  of 
any  of  those  concerned  in  the  matter ;  he  simply  says 
that  the  mutiny  took  place  in  the  quarters  occupied  by 
the  worse  class  of  prisoners.  By  worse  class,  he  means 
the  most  troublesome  and  refractory  out  there.  The 
prisoners  are  not  classified  according  to  their  original 
crimes.  A  poacher  who  has  killed  a  game-keeper,  or  a 
smuggler  who  has  killed  a  revenue  officer,  may  in  other 
respects  be  a  quiet  and  well-conducted  man,  while  men 
sentenced  for  comparatively  minor  offences  may  give  an 
immense  deal  of  trouble.     I  will,  however,  get  a  letter 

77 


78  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

written  to  the  Governor  asking  him  if  Arthur  Bastow 
was  among  those  who  took  part  in  the  revolt,  and  if  so, 
what  has  become  of  him." 

It  was  more  than  a  year  before  the  reply  came,  and 
then  the  Governor  reported  that  Arthur  Bastow,  who 
was  believed  to  have  been  the  leading  spirit  of  the 
mutiny,  was  among  those  who  had  escaped,  and  had  not 
yet  been  recaptured.  It  was  generally  believed  that  he 
had  been  killed  by  the  blacks,  but  of  this  there  was  no 
actual  proof  Mr.  Bastow  was  much  disturbed  when  he 
heard  the  news. 

A  month  later  the  Reigate  coach  was  stopped,  when 
a  short  distance  out  of  the  town,  by  two  highwaymen, 
and  a  considerable  prize  obtained  by  the  robbers.  Soon 
afterwards  came  news  of  private  carriages  being  stopped 
on  various  commons  in  the  south  of  London,  and  of 
several  burglaries  taking  place  among  the  houses  round 
Clapham,  Wandsworth,  and  Putney.  Such  events  were 
by  no  means  uncommon,  but  following  each  other  in 
such  quick  succession  they  created  a  strong  feeling  of 
alarm  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbourhood. 
John  Thorndyke,  going  up  to  town  shortly  afterwards, 
went  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  Bow  Street  runners,  and 
had  a  talk  with  their  chief  in  reference  especially  to  the 
stoppage  of  the  Reigate  coach.  Mr.  Chetwynd  had 
lately  died,  and  John  Thorndyke  had  been  unanimously 
elected  by  his  fellow  magistrates  as  chairman  of  the 
bench. 

"  No,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  we  have  no  clue  whatever. 
Our  men  have  been  keeping  the  sharpest  watch  over 
the  fellows  suspected  of  having  a  hand  in  such  matters, 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  79 

but  they  all  seem  pretty  quiet  at  present,  and  none  of 
them  seem  to  be  particularly  flush  with  money.  It  is 
the  same  with  these  burglaries  in  the  south  of  London. 
We  are  at  our  wits'  end  about  them.  We  are  flooded 
with  letters  of  complaint  from  residents,  but  though  the 
patrols  on  the  commons  have  been  doubled,  and  every 
effort  made,  we  are  as  far  off"  as  ever.  As  far  as  the 
burglaries  are  concerned,  we  have  every  reason  to  think 
that  it  is  the  work  of  two  or  three  new  hands.  The  jobs 
are  not  neatly  done,  and  certainly  not  with  tools  usually 
used  by  burglars.  They  seem  to  rely  upon  daring  rather 
than  skill.  Anyhow,  we  don't  know  where  to  look  for 
them,  and  are  altogether  at  sea. " 

A  month  later  John  Thorndyke  had  occasion  to  go 
up  again  to  town.  This  time  Mark  accompanied  him. 
Both  carried  pistols,  as  did  the  groom  sitting  beside 
them.  The  Squire  himself  was  but  a  poor  shot,  but 
Mark  had  practised  a  great  deal. 

Two  days  after  they  had  reached  town  the  Squire  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Mrs.  Cunningham. 

"Dear  Mr.  Thorndyke, — Knapp  has  been  up  this 
morning  to  tell  me  that  a  stranger  dismounted  yester- 
day at  the  ale-house,  and  while  his  horse  was  being  fed, 
he  asked  a  few  questions.  Among  others,  he  wished  to 
be  told  if  you  were  at  home,  saying  that  he  had  known 
you  some  fifteen  year§  ago,  when  you  lived  near  Hast- 
ings, and  should  like  to  have  a  talk  with  you  again.  In 
fact,  he  had  turned  off"  from  the  main  road  for  the  pur- 
pose. He  seemed  disappointed  when  he  heard  that  you 
had  gone  up  to  town,  and  hearing  that  you  might  not 


8o  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

be  back  for  three  or  four  days,  said  he  should  be  coming 
back  through  Reigate  in  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  he 
dared  say  he  should  be  able  to  find  time  to  call  again. 
Knapp  did  not  hear  about  it  until  this  morning ;  he 
asked  the  landlord  about  the  man,  and  the  landlord  said 
he  was  about  thirty,  dark,  and  sparely  built.  He  did  not 
notice  his  horse  particularly,  seeing  that  it  was  such  as  a 
small  squire  or  farmer  might  ride.  He  carried  a  brace 
of  pistols  in  his  holsters.  The  landlord  was  not  prepos- 
sessed with  his  appearance,  and  it  was  that  that  made 
him  speak  to  Knapp  about  him.  I  have  told  the  men 
to  unfasten  the  dogs  every  night,  and  I  have  asked 
Knapp  to  send  up  two  trustworthy  men  to  keep  watch." 

"  It  may  mean  something  and  it  may  not,"  the  Squire 
said,  as  he  handed  the  letter  to  Mark  ;  "  it  is  a  suspicious- 
looking  circumstance  ;  if  the  fellow  had  been  honest  he 
would  surely  have  said  something  about  himself  There 
is  no  doubt  these  house-breakers  generally  find  out  what 
chance  there  is  of  resistance,  and,  hearing  that  we  were 
both  away,  might  have  decided  on  making  an  attempt 
I  have  pretty  well  finished  our  business,  and  ordered 
nearly  all  the  provisions  that  Mrs.  Cunningham  requires. 
I  have  to  call  at  my  lawyer's,  and  that  is  generally  a 
longish  business. 

"  It  is  half-past  two  o'clock  ;  if  we  start  from  here  at 
five  we  shall  be  down  soon  after  eight,  which  will  be 
quite  soon  enough.  We  shall  have  a  couple  of  hours' 
drive  in  the  dark,  but  that  won't  matter,  we  have  got  the 
lamps." 

"  I  am  quite  ready  to  start,  father.     I  am  engaged  to 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  8i 

sup  with  Reginald  Ascot,  but  I  will  go  over  this  after- 
noon and  make  my  excuses." 

At  five  o'clock  they  started. 

"  You  have  got  your  pistols  in  order,  Mark  ?"  the 
Squire  asked,  as  they  drove  over  London  Bridge. 

"I  have  them  handy,  father,  one  in  each  pocket." 

"James,  are  your  pistols  charged?" 

"  Yes,  sir." 

At  six  o'clock  it  was  beginning  to  get  dusk,  and  they 
stopped  while  the  groom  got  down  and  lit  the  lamps ; 
then  they  resumed  their  journey.  They  were  within  five 
miles  of  Reigate  when  suddenly  two  horsemen  rode  out 
from  a  side  road  with  a  shout  of  "Stand  and  deliver !" 

The  Squire  lashed  the  horses,  and  a  moment  later  a 
pistol  was  fired,  and  the  ball  went  through  John  Thorn- 
dyke's  hat.  By  the  light  of  the  lamps  Mark  saw  the 
other  man  raise  his  hand  and  he  fired  at  once  ;  then,  as 
there  was  no  reply  to  his  fire,  he  discharged  the  second 
barrel  at  the  first  who  had  shot,  and  who  had  at  once 
drawn  another  pistol.  The  two  reports  rang  out  almost 
at  the  same  moment,  but  Mark's  was  a  little  the  first 
There  was  a  sharp  exclamation  of  pain  from  the  high- 
wayman, who  wrenched  round  his  horse  and  galloped 
down  the  lane  from  which  he  had  issued,  the  groom 
sending  two  bullets  after  him. 

"Where  is  the  other  man?"  Mark  exclaimed,  as  his 
father  reined  in  the  horses. 

"  Somewhere  on  the  ground  there,  Mark  ;  I  saw  him 
fall  from  his  saddle  as  we  passed  him." 

"  Is  it  any  use  pursuing  the  other,  father  ?  I  am 
pretty  sure  I  hit  him." 

6 


82  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  I  am  quite  sure  you  did,  but  it  is  no  good  our  fol- 
lowing ;  the  side  roads  are  so  cut  up  by  ruts  that  we 
should  break  a  spring  before  we  had  gone  a  hundred 
yards.  No,  we  will  stop  and  look  at  this  fellow  who  is 
unhorsed,  Mark." 

The  groom  got  down  and,  taking  one  of  the  carriage 
lamps  proceeded  to  a  spot  where  the  highwayman's 
horse  was  standing.  The  man  was  already  dead,  the 
bullet  having  hit  him  a  few  inches  above  the  heart. 

"He  is  dead,  father." 

"  I  think  you  had  better  lift  him  up  on  the  foot-board 
behind  ;  James  can  ride  his  horse.  We  will  hand  the 
body  over  to  the  constable  at  Reigate.  He  may  know 
who  he  is,  or  find  something  upon  him  that  may  afford 
a  clue  that  will  lead  to  the  capture  of  his  companion." 

"  No,  I  don't  know  him,  Squire,"  the  constable  said, 
as  they  stopped  before  his  house  and  told  him  what  had 
happened.  "  However,  he  certainly  is  dead,  and  I  will 
get  one  of  the  men  to  help  me  carry  him  into  the  shed 
behind  the  court-house.  So  you  say  that  you  think 
that  the  other  is  wounded. " 

"  I  am  •  pretty  sure  he  is.  I  heard  him  give  an 
exclamation  as  my  son  shot." 

"That  is  good  shooting,  Mr.  Mark,"  the  constable 
said.  "  If  every  passenger  could  use  his  arms  as  you  do 
there  would  soon  be  an  end  to  stopping  coaches.  I  will 
see  what  he  has  got  about  him,  and  will  come  up  and  let 
you  know,  Squire,  the  first  thing  in  the  morning." 

"I  will  send  Knapp  down,"  John  Thorndyke  said,  as 
they  drove  homeward.  "  I  am  rather  curious  to  know 
if  this  fellow  is  the  same  as  Mrs.  Cunningham  wrote 


'  He  is  dead,  father." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  83 

to  me  about.  I  will  tell  him  to  take  Peters  along  with 
him." 

"  I  hardly  see  that  there  can  be  any  connection 
between  the  two.  Highwaymen  don't  go  in  for  house- 
breaking. I  think  they  consider  that  to  be  a  lower 
branch  of  the  profession." 

"  Generally  they  do,  no  doubt,  Mark  ;  but  you  know 
I  told  you  that  the  chief  at  Bow  Street  said  that  he  had 
a  suspicion  that  the  highway  robbers  and  the  house- 
breakers who  have  been  creating  so  much  alarm,  are 
the  same  men." 

"It  is  curious  that  they  should  have  happened  to 
light  on  us,  father,  if  they  were  intending  to  break  into 
our  house." 

John  Thorndyke  made  no  reply,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
drove  up  to  the  house.  Their  return,  a  couple  of  days 
before  they  were  expected,  caused  great  satisfaction  to 
Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Millicent  The  former,  however, 
had  wisely  kept  from  the  girl  the  matter  on  which  she 
had  written  to  the  Squire  and  the  suspicion  she  had 
herself  entertained. 

"  I  wish  you  had  shot  the  other  man  as  well  as  the 
one  you  did,  Mark,"  the  Squire  said,  as  he  walked  with 
his  son  down  to  Reigate  to  attend  the  inquest  the  next 
morning  on  the  man  he  had  brought  in. 

Mark  looked  at  his  father  in  surprise. 

"There  is  no  doubt  I  hit  him,  father,"  he  said  ;  "but 
I  should  not  think  that  he  will  be  likely  to  trouble  us 
again." 

"  I  wish  I  felt  quite  sure  of  that.  Do  you  know  that 
I  have  a  strong  suspicion'  that  it  was  Arthur  Bastow  ?" 


84  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

Mark  had,  of  course,  heard  of  Bastow's  escape,  but 
had  attached  no  great  importance  to  it.  The  crime  had 
taken  place  nearly  eight  years  before,  and  although 
greatly  impressed  at  the  time  by  the  ill-doings  of  the 
man,  the  idea  that  he  would  ever  return  and  endeavour  to 
avenge  himself  on  his  father  for  the  part  he  had  taken 
had  not  occurred  to  him.  Beyond  mentioning  his  es- 
cape, the  Squire  had  never  talked  to  him  on  the  subject, 

"  It  was  he  who  bade  us  stand  and  deliver,  and  the 
moment  he  spoke,  the  voice  seemed  familiar  to  me, 
and,  thinking  it  over,  I  have  an  impression  that  it  was 
his.  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I  have  had  him  in  my 
mind  ever  since  I  heard  that  he  had  escaped.  I  may, 
therefore,  have  connected  the  voice  with  him  erroneously, 
and  yet  I  cannot  but  think  that  I  was  right.  You  see, 
there  are  two  or  three  suspicious  circumstances.  In 
the  first  place,  there  was  this  man  down  here  making 
enquiries.  Knapp  went  down  early  this  morning  with 
the  inn-keeper,  and  told  me  before  breakfast  that  Peters 
at  once  recognised  the  fellow  you  shot  as  the  fellow  who 
had  made  the  enquiries.  Now,  the  natural  result  of 
making  enquiries  would  have  been  that  the  two  men 
would  the  next  evening  have  broken  into  the  house, 
thinking  that  during  our  absence  they  would  meet  with 
no  resistance.  Instead  of  doing  this  they  waylaid  us 
on  the  road,  which  looks  as  if  it  was  I  they  intended 
to  attack,  and  not  the  house." 

"  It  is  a  very  unpleasant  idea,  father." 

"  Very  unpleasant,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  we  should, 
at  any  rate,  spare  no  pains  in  hunting  down  the  man 
you  wounded." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  85 

"  I  will  undertake  that  if  you  like.  I  have  nothing 
particular  to  do,  and  it  would  be  an  excitement  You 
have  a  lot  to  keep  you  here." 

"  I  don't  fancy  that  you  will  find  it  an  excitement, 
Mark,  for  of  course  the  detectives  will  do  the  hunting, 
but  I  should  certainly  be  glad  if  you  would  take  a  letter 
for  me  to  the  head  of  the  detective  department,  and 
tell  him  what  I  think,  and  my  reasons  for  thinking  so, 
and  say  that  I  offer  a  reward  of  ;^  100  for  the  capture  of 
the  man  who  tried  to  stop  us,  and  who  was,  we  are  cer- 
tain, wounded  by  you.  Unless  he  has  some  marvellously 
out-of-the-way  hiding-place,  it  ought  not  to  be  difficult 
A  wounded  man  could  scarcely  lie  hidden  in  the  slums 
of  London  without  its  being  known  to  a  good  many 
people,  to  some  of  whom  a  reward  of  the  sum  of  ;^  100 
pounds  would  be  an  irresistible  temptation." 

By  this  time  they  had  reached  Reigate.  The  inquest 
did  not  last  many  minutes,  and  the  jury  without  hesita- 
tion returned  a  verdict  of  justifiable  homicide. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THREE  months  later  John  Thorndyke  received  a 
letter  from  the  detective  office  asking  him  to  call 
the  next  time  he  came  up  to  town,  as,  although 
no  news  had  been  obtained  that  would  lead  to  the 
man's  immediate  arrest,  news  had,  at  any  rate,  been  ob- 
tained showing  that  he  was  alive.  It  happened  that 
Mark  was  intending  to  go  up  on  the  following  day, 
and  his  father  asked  him  to  call  for  him  at  Bow  Street. 

"Well,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  we  have  heard  about  your 
man,  and  that  after  we  had  quite  abandoned  the  search. 
I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  wound  you  gave 
him  had  been  a  fatal  one,  and  that  he  had  been  quietly 
buried  by  some  of  the  people  with  whom  he  was  con- 
nected. The  discovery  was,  as  half  these  discoveries 
are  generally,  the  result  of  accident  Last  week  a  gen- 
tleman entered  the  bank  and  asked  for  change  in  gold 
for  a  ;^50  note.  The  cashier,  looking  at  the  number, 
found  that  it  was  one  of  those  that  had  been  stolen  from 
a  passenger  by  one  of  the  south  coaches  several  months 
86 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  87 

ago.  The  gentleman  was  at  once  taken  into  a  private 
office  and  questioned  as  to  how  he  had  obtained  the 
note.  The  account  that  he  gave  was  that  he  was  a 
surgeon  in  practice  at  Southampton.  A  gentleman  had 
arrived  on  a  date  which  we  found  to  be  the  day  after 
that  on  which  you  were  stopped  ;  he  was  well  dressed, 
and  had  the  air  of  a  gentleman  ;  had  come  down  by 
coach,  and  was  evidently  very  ill.  He  told  the  surgeon 
that  he  had  been  engaged  in  a  duel,  that  the  pistols  had 
been  discharged  simultaneously,  and  that  he  had  killed 
his  man,  but  had  himself  been  severely  wounded.  He 
said  that  the  person  whom  he  had  killed  had  influential 
connections,  and  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to 
remain  in  seclusion  for  a  time,  and  he  asked  him  to  take 
charge  of  his  case,  as  he  had  ample  means  of  paying 
him  handsomely.  The  surgeon  examined  the  wound, 
and  found  it  to  be,  indeed,  a  serious  one,  and,  as  he 
thought,  probably  fatal.  However,  having  no  doubt  as 
to  the  truth  of  the  story,  he  had  taken  the  gentleman  in, 
and  he  remained  under  his  charge  until  a  week  before 
he  came  up  to  town. 

"  For  the  first  month  he  had  been  dangerously  ill,  but 
he  completely  recovered.  The  surgeon  had  no  reason 
whatever  for  doubting  his  patient  being  a  gentleman  ; 
he  was  fashionably  dressed,  and  had  evidently  changed 
his  clothes  after  the  duel,  as  there  were  no  blood-stains 
upon  them.  He  was,  however,  glad  when  he  left,  as  his 
conversation  did  not  please  him  from  its  cynical  tone. 
The  bank  at  once  sent  to  us  as  soon  as  the  man  pre- 
sented the  note,  which,  he  stated,  had  been  given  to  him 
in  part  payment  for  his  medical  services  and  the  board 


88  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

and  lodging  of  the  patient.  The  total  amount  had  been 
£T^,  and  the  balance  was  paid  in  gold.  As  he  was  able 
to  give  several  good  references  and  was  identified  by- 
three  gentlemen,  he  was  of  course  released.  I  have  no 
doubt  whatever  that  the  fellow  was  your  man.  The 
surgeon  said,  whoever  he  was,  he  must  have  been  a  man 
of  iron  resolution  to  have  made  such  a  journey  in  the 
state  he  was. 

"  No  doubt  he  must  have  ridden  straight  to  the  place 
he  used  as  his  head-quarters,  where  he  had  his  wound 
roughly  bandaged,  changed  his  clothes,  and  had  then 
ridden  the  next  morning  to  some  point  that  the  coach 
passed  on  its  way  to  Southampton.  Of  course,  we  ob- 
tained from  the  surgeon  a  minute  description  of  the 
man's  appearance.  We  found  that  the  people  at  the 
coach  office  had  no  remembrance  of  there  being  anyone 
answering  to  that  description  among  the  persons  who 
travelled  by  the  coach,  but  of  course  that  would  not  go 
for  much,  for  over  three  months  have  elapsed. 

"When  the  coachman  who  had  driven  the  down 
coach  that  day  came  up  to  town,  we  saw  him,  and  he 
remembered  perfectly  that  on  or  about  that  day  he  had 
picked  up  a  passenger  at  Kingston, — a  gentleman  who 
was  in  very  weak  health.  There  were  only  three  inside 
passengers  besides  himself,  and  he  had  to  be  assisted 
into  the  coach.  The  way-bill,  on  being  turned  up, 
showed  that  an  inside  passenger  had  been  taken  up  at 
Kingston.  I  have  already  sent  down  men  to  make  en- 
quiries at  every  village  in  the  district  between  Reigate 
and  Kingston,  and  I  trust  that  we  shall  lay  hands  on 
him,  especially  now  we  have  got  an  accurate  description 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  89 

of  him,  while  before  we  were  working  in  the  dark  in 
that  respect." 

"What  is  the  description,  sir?  My  father  is  much 
interested  on  that  point,  for,  as  I  beHeve  I  told  you, 
he  has  a  strong  suspicion  that  the  fellow  is  the  man 
who  was  transported  more  than  eight  years  ago  to 
Australia,  and  who  made  his  escape  from  the  prison 
there." 

"  Yes,  I  know.  At  first  it  appeared  to  me  very  im- 
probable, but  I  am  bound  to  say  the  description  tallies 
very  clearly  with  that  given  of  him.  The  surgeon  took 
him  to  be  nearly  thirty  ;  but  after  what  he  has  gone 
through,  he  may  well  look  three  or  four  years  older 
than  he  is.  He  had  light  hair,  rather  small  grey  eyes, 
and  a  face  that  would  have  been  good-looking  had  it 
not  been  for  its  supercilious  sneering  expression." 

"I  can  remember  him,"  Mark  said;  "and  that  an- 
swers very  closely  to  him.  I  should  say  that  it  is  cer- 
tainly Bastow,  and  my  father  made  no  mistake  when  he 
asserted  that  he  recognised  his  voice." 

The  officer  added  a  note  to  the  description  in  his 
register  :  "Strongly  suspected  of  being  Arthur  Bastow, 
transported  for  connivance  with  highwaymen  ;  was  leader 
of  a  mutiny  in  convict  gaol  of  Sydney  two  years  and  a 
half  ago.     Made  his  escape." 

"  Altogether  a  desperate  character.  No  doubt  he  is 
the  man  who  has  been  concerned  in  most  of  these  rob- 
beries in  the  southern  suburbs.  We  must  get  hold  of 
him  if  we  can,  and  once  we  do  so  there  will  be  an  end 
of  his  travels,  for  a  mutiny  in  prison  and  escape  is  a 
hanging  business,  putting  aside  the  affairs  since  he  got 


go  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

back.  Well,  sir,  I  hope  he  will  give  you  and  your 
father  no  more  trouble." 

"  I  am  sure  I  hope  so,"  Mark  said.  "  I  suppose  that 
the  fellow  who  was  shot  was  one  of  the  men  who 
escaped  with  him  from  the  convict  prison." 

"That  is  likely  enough.  Two  would  get  home  as 
easily  as  one,  and  the  fact  that  they  were  both  strangers 
here  would  account  for  the  difficulty  our  men  have  had 
in  their  search  for  him.  You  see,  we  have  had  nothing 
whatever  to  go  on.  You  must  not  be  too  sanguine 
about  our  catching  the  man  in  a  short  time  :  he  is  evi- 
dently a  clever  fellow,  and  I  think  it  likely  that  once  he 
got  back,  he  lost  no  time  in  getting  away  from  this  part 
of  the  country,  and  we  are  more  likely  to  find  him  in 
the  west  or  north  than  we  are  of  laying  hands  on  him 
here.  We  will  send  descriptions  all  over  the  country, 
and  as  soon  as  I  hear  of  a  series  of  crimes  anywhere,  I 
will  send  off  two  of  my  best  men  to  help  the  local  con- 
stables." 

"  I  thought  that  I  could  not  have  been  mistaken, 
Mark  ;  we  have  got  that  rascal  on  our  hands  again.  I 
hope  now  that  they  have  got  a  description  of  him  to  go 
by,  they  will  not  be  long  before  they  catch  him,  but 
the  way  he  escaped  after  being  badly  wounded  shows 
that  he  is  full  of  resources,  and  he  may  give  them  some 
trouble  yet  if  I  am  not  mistaken.  At  any  rate,  I  will 
have  a  talk  with  the  Reigate  constable,  and  tell  him  that 
there  is  very  little  doubt  that  the  man  who  attacked  us 
was  Arthur  Bastow,  who  has,  as  we  have  heard,  escaped 
from  Botany  Bay,  and  that  he  had  best  tell  his  men  to 
keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  him,  for  that,  owing  to  his 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  91 

animosity  against  us  for  his  former  capture  and  convic- 
tion, it  is  likely  enough  that  sooner  or  later  he  will  be  in 
this  neighbourhood  again.  After  his  determined  attempt 
at  my  life  when  pretending  to  rob  us,  I  shall  certainly 
not  feel  comfortable  until  I  know  that  he  is  under  lock 
and  key.  You  were  in  court  when  he  threatened  me 
after  he  was  sentenced,  and  I  believe  thoroughly  that  the 
fellow  would  run  any  risk  to  revenge  himself  on  me." 

Four  days  later  the  party  was  seated  round  the  fire 
in  the  dusk.  Mr.  Bastow  was  sitting  next  to  the  Squire, 
and  was  in  unusually  good  spirits.  He  had  heard  no 
word  of  what  the  Squire  had  discovered,  nor  dreamt 
that  his  son  was  again  in  England,  still  less  that  one  of 
the  men  who  had  endeavoured  to  stop  the  Squire  and 
his  son  on  their  drive  from  London  was  suspected  to  be 
his  son  Arthur.  Suddenly  there  was  the  crack  of  a 
pistol  outside  and  a  ball  passed  between  him  and  the 
Squire.  Without  a  word,  Mark  Thorndyke  rushed  to 
the  door,  seized  a  pistol  from  his  riding-coat,  and,  snatch- 
ing up  a  heavy  whip,  dashed  out  into  the  garden. 

He  was  just  in  time  to  see  a  figure  running  at  full 
speed,  and  he  set  off  in  pursuit  Good  runner  as  he 
was,  he  gained  but  slightly  at  first,  but  after  a  time  he 
drew  nearer  to  the  fugitive.  The  latter  was  but  some 
sixty  yards  away  when  he  leapi  a  hedge  into  a  narrow 
lane.  Mark  followed  without  hesitation,  but  as  he  leapt 
into  the  road,  he  heard  a  jeering  laugh  and  the  sharp 
sound  of  a  horse's  hoofs,  and  knew  that  the  man  he  was 
pursuing  had  gained  his  horse  and  made  off.  Dis- 
gusted at  his  failure,  he  went  slowly  back  to  the  house. 
The  shutters  had  been  put  up. 


92  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  I  have  lost  him,  father.  He  ran  well  to  begin  with, 
but  I  was  gaining  fast  on  him  when  he  leapt  into  a  nar- 
row lane  where  he  had  left  his  horse,  and  rode  off  before 
I  could  get  up  to  him.  I  need  hardly  say  that  there 
was  no  use  attempting  to  follow  on  foot.  He  missed 
you  all,  did  he  not?" 

"Yes,  Mark.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  take  an  accurate 
aim  when  it  is  nearly  dark.  The  bullet  passed  between 
myself  and  Mr.  Bastpw,  and  has  buried  itself  in  the 
mantel-piece." 

"Do  you  think  that  he  really  meant  to  kill  you, 
father?" 

"  I  should  imagine  he  did  ;  a  man  would  hardly  run 
the  risk  of  being  hunted  merely  for  the  pleasure  of 
shooting." 

"  I  would  give  a  good  deal  if  I  had  caught  him, 
or,  better  still,  if  I  had  shot  him,"  said  Mark.  "How- 
ever, I  will  make  it  my  business  to  hunt  the  fellow 
down.  After  this  evening's  affair,  we  shall  never  feel 
comfortable  until  he  is  caught.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
he  is  the  fellow  we  have  been  hunting  for  the  last  four 
months  ;  the  people  at  Bow  Street  seem  no  good  what- 
ever ;  I  will  try  if  I  cannot  succeed  better." 

When  the  ladies  went  up  to  bed,  the  Squire  said, — 

"Come  into  the  library,  Mark,  and  we  will  smoke  a 
pipe  and  have  a  talk  over  this  business."  He  touched 
the  bell.  "  Have  you  got  a  good  fire  in  the  library, 
Ramoo?" 

"Yes,  sahib,  very  good." 

"Then  take  a  bottle  of  number  one  bin  of  port  there 
and  a  couple  of  glasses." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  93 

When  they  were  quietly  seated,  glasses  filled,  and  the 
long  pipes  alight,  the  Squire  said,  "  I  want  to  have  a 
serious  talk  with  you,  Mark,  What  I  am  going  to  say 
will  surprise  you  a  good  deal.  I  had  not  intended  to  tell 
you  for  another  four  years,  that  is  to  say,  not  until  Milli- 
cent  came  of  age ;  but  after  that  affair  to-night,  I  feel 
that  my  life  is  so  uncertain  that  I  ought  not  to  delay 
letting  you  know  the  truth.  I  suppose  you  agree  with 
me  that  it  was  Bastow  who  shot  at  me  this  evening?" 

"  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  about  that,  father." 

"  I  will  not  say  that  he  shot  at  me,"  the  Squire  said, 
"  for  he  may  have  shot  at  his  father ;  the  villain  is  quite 
capable  of  that.  It  was  his  father  who  brought  me 
upon  him,  and,  though  I  effected  his  capture  eight  years 
ago,  I  don't  suppose  he  cared  which  of  us  he  killed. 
However,  the  point  is  not  at  which  of  us  he  aimed,  but 
whether  it  was  he,  and  that  I  take  there  is  no  doubt 
about.  He  missed  me  this  time,  but  his  next  shot  may 
be  more  successful.  At  any  rate,  I  think  that  it  is  high 
time  that  I  told  you  the  story. " 

And  beginning  with  the  arrival  of  Colonel  Thorndyke 
at  his  place,  he  repeated  the  conversation  that  he  had 
had  with  him.  Several  times  in  the  early  portion  of  his 
narrative  he  was  interrupted  by  exclamations  of  surprise 
from  his  son. 

"Then  Millicent  is  really  my  uncle's  heiress?"  ex- 
claimed Mark,  when  he  heard  the  request  the  colonel 
had  made  of  the  Squire. 

"That  is  so,  Mark.  She  does  not  know  it  herself, 
and  it  was  my  brother's  urgent  wish  that  she  should 
not  know  it  until  she  came  of  age  or  until  she  married. 


94  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

I  fought  against  it  to  the  utmost,  but  it  was  his  dying 
prayer,  and  I  could  not  refuse  it.  My  solicitor  knows 
the  facts  of  the  matter,  and  so  does  Mrs.  Cunningham, 
who  brought  Millicent  over  from  India  when  she  was 
only  about  a  year  old.  I  may  say  that  I  especially 
urged  that  it  would  not  be  fair  to  you  to  be  brought 
up  to  consider  yourself  to  be  heir  to  the  property,  but 
he  said, — 

"  *  Putting  aside  the  estate,  I  have  a  considerable 
fortune.  In  the  first  place  there  are  the  accumulations 
of  rent  from  the  Reigate  place.  I  have  never  touched 
them,  and  they  have  been  going  on  for  twelve  years. 
In  the  next  place,  the  shaking  of  the  Pagoda  tree  has 
gone  on  merrily,  and  we  all  made  a  comfortable  pile. 
Then  I  always  made  a  point  of  carrying  about  with  me 
;^200  or  ;^300,  and  after  the  sacking  of  some  of  the 
palaces,  I  could  pick  up  jewels  and  things  from  the 
troops  for  a  trifle,  being  able  to  pay  money  down. 
Even  without  the  rents  here,  I  have  some  ;^50,ooo  in 
money.  I  should  think  the  jewels  would  be  worth  at 
least  ;^2 5,000  more,  irrespective  of  a  diamond  bracelet, 
which  is,  I  fancy,  worth  more  than  the  rest  put  together. 
It  was  stolen  from  the  arm  of  some  idol.'  He  then  ex- 
plained how  he  got  it,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
placed  it  and  the  rest  of  his  wealth,  in  a  secure  position. 

" '  Those  things  stolen  from  a  god  are  frightfully 
dangerous,'  he  said,  'for  the  Brahmins  or  priests  con- 
nected with  the  temples  have  been  known  to  follow 
them  up  for  years,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  they 
get  possession  of  them  again.  Murder  in  such  a  case 
is  meritorious,  and  I  would  not  have  them  in  the  house 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  95 

here  were  they  ten  times  the  value  they  are.  I  know 
that  my  clothes,  my  drawers,  and  everything  belonging 
to  me  has  been  gone  through  at  night  a  score  of  times. 
Nothing  has  been  stolen,  but,  being  a  methodical  man,  I 
could  generally  see  some  displacement  in  the  things 
that  told  me  they  had  been  disturbed.  They  gave  it 
up  for  a  time,  but  I  haven't  a  shadow  of  doubt  that 
they  have  been  watching  me  ever  since,  and  they  may 
be  watching  me  now  for  anything  I  know.  Now,  half 
of  that  fortune  I  have  left,  by  my  will,  to  your  son  ; 
half  to  the  girl.  I  will  tell  you  where  the  things  are, 
the  last  thing. 

"  '  Now,  mind,  you  must  be  careful  when  you  get 
them.  When  I  am  dead  you  are  almost  certain  to  be 
watched.  You  don't  know  what  these  fellows  are. 
The  things  must  remain  where  they  are  until  your  boy 
comes  of  age.  Don't  let  him  keep  those  diamonds  an 
hour  in  his  possession  ;  let  him  pass  them  away  privately 
to  some  man  in  whom  he  has  implicit  confidence,  for 
him  to  take  them  to  a  jeweller's  ;  let  him  double  and 
turn  and  disguise  himself  so  as  to  throw  everyone  that 
may  be  spying  on  him  off  his  track.  If  you  can 
manage  it,  the  best  way  would  be  to  carry  them  over 
to  Amsterdam,  and  sell  them  there.' 

"  I  confess  it  seemed  absurd,  but  it  is  a  matter  about 
which  he  would  know  a  great  deal  more  than  I  do,  and 
he  was  convinced  that  not  only  was  he  watched,  but 
that  he  owed  his  life  simply  to  the  fact  that  the  fellows 
did  not  know  where  the  diamonds  were  hidden,  and 
that  by  killing  him  they  would  have  lost  every  chance  of 
regaining  them. 


96  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  So  convinced  was  he  of  all  this,  that  he  would  not 
tell  me  where  he  had  stowed  them  away ;  he  seemed  to 
think  that  the  very  walls  would  hear  us,  and  that  these 
fellows  might  be  hidden  under  the  sofa,  in  a  cupboard, 
or  up  the  chimney,  for  aught  I  know.  He  told  me  that 
he  would  tell  me  the  secret  before  he  died ;  but  death 
came  so  suddenly  that  he  never  had  an  opportunity  of 
doing  so.  He  made  a  tremendous  effort  in  his  last 
moment,  but  failed,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  anguish 
his  face  expressed  when  he  found  himself  powerless  to 
speak  ;  however,  he  pressed  his  snuff  box  into  my  hand 
with  such  a  significant  look  that,  being  certain  that  it 
contained  some  clue  to  the  mystery,  and  being  unable 
to  find  a  hidden  spring  or  a  receptacle,  I  broke  it  open 
that  night. 

"  It  contained  a  false  bottom,  and  here  are  what  I 
found  in  it.  I  stowed  them  away  in  a  secret  drawer  in 
that  old  cabinet  that  stands  by  my  bedside.  It  is  in  the 
bottom  pigeon-hole  on  the  right-hand  side.  I  bought 
the  cabinet  at  a  sale,  and  found  the  spring  of  the  secret 
drawer  quite  accidentally.  I  shall  put  the  things  back 
to-night,  and  you  will  know  where  to  look  for  them. 
You  press  on  the  bottom  and  up  against  the  top  simul- 
taneously, and  the  back  then  falls  forward.  The  open- 
ing behind  is  very  shallow,  and  will  hold  but  two  or 
three  letters.  But,  however,  it  sufficed  for  this."  And 
he  handed  Mark  the  coin  and  slip  of  paper. 

"But  what  are  these,  father?" 

"These  are  the  clues  by  which  we  are  to  obtain  the 
treasure." 

As  Mark  examined  them  carefully,  the  Squire  stood 


THE  BRAHMINS*   TREASURE  97 

up  with  his  back  to  the  fire,  and,  looking  round,  walked 
to  the  door,  and  said, — 

"  I  thought  there  was  a  draught  somewhere  ;  either 
Ramoo  did  not  shut  the  door  when  he  went  out,  or  it 
has  come  open  again.  It  has  done  that  once  or  twice 
before.  When  I  go  into  the  town  to-morrow  I  will  tell 
Tucker  to  send  a  man  up  to  take  the  lock  off!  Well, 
what  do  you  make  out  of  that  ?" 

"I  can  make  out  nothing,"  Mark  replied.  "No 
doubt  the  coin  is  something  to  be  given  to  whoever  is 
in  charge  of  the  treasure,  and  Masulipatam  may  be  the 
place  where  it  is  hidden." 

"  Yes,  or  it  may  be  a  password.  It  reminds  one  of 
the  forty  thieves  business.  You  go  and  knock  at  the 
door  of  a  cave,  a  figure  armed  to  the  teeth  presents 
itself ;  you  whisper  in  his  ear  '  Masulipatam  ;'  he  replies 
'  Madras'  or  '  Calcutta,'  or  something  of  that  sort ;  you 
take  out  the  coin  and  show  it  to  him  ;  he  takes  out  from 
some  hidden  repository  another  similar  to  it ;  he  com- 
pares the  two,  and  then  leads  you  to  an  inner  cave  piled 
up  with  jewels." 

Mark  laughed. 

"Well,  it  is  no  laughing  matter,  Mark,"  the  Squire 
went  on,  seriously.  "The  little  comedy  may  not  be 
played  just  as  I  have  sketched  it,  but  I  expect  that  it  is 
something  of  the  kind.  That  coin  has  to  be  shown,  and 
the  word  '  Masulipatam'  spoken  to  the  guardian,  who- 
ever he  may  be,  of  your  uncle's  treasure.  But  who  that 
guardian  may  be  or  how  he  is  to  be  found  is  a  mystery. 
I  myself  have  never  tried  to  solve  it  There  was  noth- 
ing whatever  to  go  upon.    The  thing  may  be  in  England 

7 


98  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

or  it  may  be  anywhere  in  India.  To  me  it  looked  an 
an  absolutely  hopeless  business  to  set  about  I  did  not 
see  how  even  a  first  step  was  to  be  taken,  and  as  I  had 
this  estate  and  you  and  Millicent  to  look  after,  and  was 
no  longer  a  young  man,  I  put  the  matter  aside  alto- 
gether. You  are  young,  you  have  plenty  of  energy, 
and  you  have  your  life  before  you,  and  it  is  a  matter  of 
the  greatest  interest  to  you. 

"  Possibly,  very  improbably,  mind,  still  possibly,  when 
Millicent  comes  of  age  and  learns  who  she  is,  Mrs.  Cun- 
ningham may  be  able  to  help  you.  I  have  no  idea 
whether  it  is  so.  I  have  never  spoken  to  her  about  this 
treasure  of  George's,  but  it  is  just  possible  that  while  he 
was  in  town  before  he  came  down  to  me  he  may  have 
given  her  some  instructions  concerning  it.  Of  course 
he  intended  to  give  me  full  particulars,  but  he  could 
hardly  have  avoided  seeing  that  in  the  event  of  my 
death,  perhaps  suddenly,  before  the  time  for  seeking  the 
treasure,  the  secret  would  be  lost  altogether.  Whether 
he  has  told  her  or  his  lawyer  or  not  I  cannot  say,  but  I 
have  all  along  clung  to  the  hope  that  he  took  some  such 
natural  precaution.  Unless  that  treasure  is  discovered, 
the  only  thing  that  will  come  to  you  is  the  half  of  the 
rents  of  this  estate  during  the  ten  years  between  my 
father's  death  and  George's ;  the  rents  were  paid  to  our 
solicitors,  and  by  them  invested." 

"  I  am  sure  I  have  no  reason  to  grumble,  father," 
Mark  said,  heartily ;  "  of  course  it  came  upon  me  at 
first  as  a  surprise  that  Millicent  was  the  heiress  here, 
and  it  flashed  through  my  mind  for  the  moment  that  the 
best  thing  would  be  to  take  a  commission  in  the  army, 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  99 

or  to  follow  my  uncle's  example,  and  get  a  cadetship  in 
the  Company's  service.  I  have  no  doubt  that  I  should 
have  enjoyed  life  either  way  quite  as  much  or  possibly 
more  than  if  I  had  gone  on  a  good  many  years  as  heir 
to  these  estates,  and  afterwards  as  Squire.  Of  course, 
now  I  shall  see  if  it  is  possible  to  obtain  some  sort  of 
clue  to  this  treasure,  and  then  follow  it  up  ;  but  the  first 
thing  to  which  I  shall  give  my  mind  will  be  to  hunt  down 
Bastow.  We  shall  never  feel  safe  here  as  long  as  that 
fellow  is  alive,  arid  that  will  be  the  first  thing  I  shall 
devote  myself  to.  After  that  I  shall  see  about  the 
treasure. " 

"As  to  that,  Mark,  I  cannot  impress  upon  you  too 
strongly  what  your  uncle  said.  It  may,  of  course,  be  a 
pure  delusion  on  his  part  As  to  that  I  cannot  say, 
but  if  he  is  right,  and  some  of  these  Hindoo  fellows 
are  still  on  the  watch  to  obtain  that  bracelet,  you  must 
use  extraordinary  precautions  when  you  get  it  into  your 
hands ;  he  advised  me  to  take  it  across  to  Amsterdam 
and  either  get  the  stones  recut  or  to  sell  them  separately 
to  different  diamond  merchants  there.  He  said  that  my 
life  would  not  be  worth  an  hour's  purchase  as  long  as 
the  stones  were  in  my  hands." 

Suddenly  Mark  sprang  to  his  feet  and  pulled  back 
the  curtains  across  a  window,  threw  it  up  and  leapt  into 
the  garden,  and  there  stood  listening  for  two  or  three 
minutes,  with  his  pistol  cocked  in  his  hand.  He  stepped 
for  a  moment  into  the  room  again. 

"  You  had  better  put  that  light  out,  father,  or  we  may 
have  another  shot." 

"Did  you  hear  anything,  Mark?" 


lOO  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  I  thought  I  did,  father ;  I  may  have  been  mistaken, 
but  I  certainly  thought  I  heard  a  noise,  and  when  I 
piriled  the  curtains  aside  the  window  was  not  shut  by 
three  or  four  inches.  I  will  have  a  look  through  the 
shrubbery,  that  fellow  may  have  come  back  again. 
Pull  the  curtains  to  after  me." 

"  I  will  go  with  you,  Mark." 

"  I  would  rather  you  didn't,  father ;  it  would  only 
make  me  nervous.  I  shan't  go  into  the  shrubbery 
and  give  them  a  chance  of  getting  first  shot,  I  shall 
hide  up  somewhere  and  listen.  It  is  a  still  night,  and 
if  there  is  anyone  moving  I  am  pretty  sure  to  hear 
him." 

The  Squire  turned  down  the  lamp,  drew  the  curtains, 
and  seated  himself  by  the  fire.  It  was  three-quarters 
of  an  hour  before  Mark  returned.  He  shut  the  window 
and  fastened  it  carefully. 

"I  fancy  you  must  have  been  mistaken,  Mark." 

"  I  suppose  that  shot  through  the  window  has  made 
me  nervous.  I  certainly  did  fancy  I  heard  a  noise 
there  ;  it  may  have  been  a  dead  bough  snapping,  or 
something  of  that  sort ;  and,  of  course,  the  window  being 
partly  open,  even  though  only  three  or  four  inches,  any 
little  noise  would  come  in  more  plainly  than  it  other- 
wise would.  However,  everything  has  been  perfectly 
quiet  since  I  went  out,  and  it  is  hardly  likely,  indeed, 
that  the  fellow  would  have  returned  so  soon  after  the 
hot  chase  I  gave  him." 


CHAPTER   VII. 

IT  was  some  hours  before  Mark  went  to  sleep.  The 
news  that  he  had  heard  that  evening  was  strange 
and  startling.  Full  of  health  and  strength,  the 
fact  that  he  was  not,  as  he  had  always  supposed,  the 
heir  to  the  estate,  troubled  him  not  at  all.  The  fact  that 
in  four  years  he  would  come  in  for  some  ;^i  2,000  was 
sufficient  to  prevent  his  feeling  any  uneasiness  as  to  his 
future  ;  and,  indeed,  in  some  respects,  it  was  not  an  un- 
pleasant idea  that,  instead  of  being  tied  down  to  the 
estate,  he  should  be  able  to  wander  at  will,  visit  foreign 
countries,  and  make  his  own  life. 

In  one  respect  he  was  sorty  his  father  had  in  the  last 
year  hinted  more  than  once  that  it  would  be  a  very  nice 
arrangement  if  he  were  to  make  up  a  match  with  his 
ward  :  he  had  laughed  and  said  that  there  would  be 
plenty  of  time  for  that  yet.  But  the  idea  had  been  an 
agreeable  one.  He  was  very  fond  of  Miilicent — fond, 
perhaps,  in  a  cousinly  way,  at  present ;  but,  at  any  rate, 
he  liked   her  far  better  than  any  of  the  sisters  of  his 


I02  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

friends.  Of  course,  she  was  only  seventeen  yet,  and 
there  was  plenty  of  time  to  think  of  marriage  in  another 
three  years.  Still  the  thought  occurred  to  him  several 
times  that  she  was  budding  out  into  a  young  woman, 
and  every  month  added  to  her  attractions.  It  was  but 
the  day  before  he  had  said  to  himself  that  there  was  no 
reason  to  wait  as  long  as  three  years,  especially  as  his 
father  seemed  anxious  and  much  disposed  towards  the 
match.  Now,  of  course,  he  said  to  himself,  that  was  at 
an  end. 

He  had  never  acted  in  any  way  as  a  lover  before,  and 
now  that  she  was  the  heiress  and  he  comparatively  poor, 
she  would  consider  it  was  his  desire  for  the  estate  and 
not  for  her  that  induced  his  wooing.  Then  there  was 
the  question  of  this  curiously  lost  treasure,  with  the 
mysterious  clue  that  led  to  nothing.  How  on  earth  was 
he  to  set  about  the  quest  ?  He  puzzled  for  a  long  time 
over  this  till  at  last  he  fell  asleep.  He  was  roused  by 
Ramoo  entering  the  room. 

"What  is  it,  Ramoo?" 

"  Me  not  know,  sahib.  Massa  Thorndyke's  door 
shut.     Me  no  able  to  make  him  hear." 

"That  is  curious,  Ramoo,"  Mark  said,  jumping  hastily 
out  of  bed.  "  I  will  be  with  you  in  a  minute."  He 
slipped  on  his  trousers,  coat,  and  slippers,  and  then 
accompanied  Ramoo  to  his  father's  door.  He  knocked 
again  and  again,  and  each  time  more  loudly,  his  face 
growing  paler  as  he  did  so.  Then  he  threw  himself 
against  the  door,  but  it  was  solid  and  heavy. 

"Fetch  me  an  axe,  Ramoo,"  he  said.  "There  is 
something  wrong  here." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  103 

Ramoo  returned  in  a  short  time  with  two  men-servants 
and  with  the  axe  in  his  hands.  Mark  took  it,  and  with 
a  few  mighty  blows  spHt  the  wood-work,  and  then,  hurl- 
ing himself  against  the  door,  it  yielded.  As  he  entered 
the  room  a  cry  broke  from  his  lips.  Within  a  pace  or 
t\vo  of  the  bed  the  Squire  lay  on  the  ground,  on  his  face, 
and  a  deep  stain  on  the  carpet  at  once  showed  that  his 
death  had  been  a  violent  one.  Mark  knelt  by  his  side 
now,  and  touched  him.  The  body  was  stiff  and  cold. 
The  Squire  must  have  been  dead  for  some  hours. 

"  Murdered  !"  he  said,  in  a  low  voice  ;  "  my  father  has 
been  murdered."  He  remained  in  horror-struck  silence 
for  a  minute  or  two,  then  he  slowly  rose  to  his  feet 

"  Let  us  lay  him  on  the  bed,"  he  said,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  the  three  men  he  lifted  and  laid  him 
there. 

"  He  has  been  stabbed,"  he  murmured,  pointing  to  a 
small  cut  in  the  middle  of  the  deep  stain,  just  over  the 
heart. 

Ramoo,  after  helping  to  lift  the  Squire  on  to  the  bed, 
had  slid  down  to  the  floor  and  crouched  there,  sobbing 
convulsively.  The  two  servants  stood  helpless  and 
aghast.  Mark  looked  round  the  room  :  the  window 
was  open.  He  walked  to  it.  A  garden  ladder  stood 
outside,  showing  how  the  assassin  had  obtained  entrance. 
Mark  stood  rigid  and  silent,  his  hands  tightly  clenched, 
his  breath  coming  slowly  and  heavily.  At  last  he 
roused  himself 

"Leave  things  just  as  they  are,"  he  said  to  the  men 
in  a  tone  of  unnatural  calmness,  "  and  fasten  the  door 
up  again    and  turn  a  table  or  something  of  that  sort 


I04  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

against  it  from  the  outside,  so  that  no  one  can  come  in, 
John,  do  you  tell  one  of  the  grooms  to  saddle  a  horse  and 
ride  down  into  the  town.  Let  him  tell  the  head  con- 
stable to  come  up  at  once,  and  also  Dr.  Holloway.  Then 
he  is  to  go  on  to  Sir  Charles  Harris,  tell  him  what  has 
happened,  and  beg  him  to  ride  over  at  once.  Come, 
Ramoo,"  he  said,  in  a  softer  voice,  "you  can  do  no 
good  here,  poor  fellow,  and  the  room  must  be  closed. 
It  is  a  heavy  loss  to  you,  too." 

The  Hindoo  rose  slowly,  the  tears  streaming  down 
his  face. 

"He  was  a  good  master,"  he  said,  "and  I  loved  him 
just  as  I  loved  the  colonel,  sahib.  Ramoo  would  have 
given  his  life  for  him." 

With  his  hand  upon  Ramoo' s  shoulder,  Mark  left  the 
room  ;  he  passed  a  group  of  women  huddled  together 
with  blanched  faces,  at  a  short  distance  down  the  pas- 
sage, the  news  that  the  Squire's  door  could  not  be 
opened  and  the  sounds  made  by  its  being  broken  in 
having  called  them  together.  Mark  could  not  speak. 
He  silently  shook  his  head  and  passed  on.  As  he 
reached  his  room  he  heard  shrieks  and  cries  behind 
him  as  the  men  informed  them  of  what  had  taken 
place.  On  reaching  his  door,  the  one  opposite  opened, 
and  Mrs.  Cunningham  in  a  dressing-gown  came  out. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Mark,  and  what  are  these  cries 
about?" 

"  A  dreadful  thing  has  happened,  Mrs.  Cunningham  ; 
my  father  has  been  murdered  in  the  night.  Please  tell 
Millicent." 

Then  he  closed  the  door  behind  him,  threw  himself 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  105 

on  his  bed,  and  burst  into  a  passion  of  tears.  The 
Squire  had  been  a  good  father  to  him,  and  had  made 
him  his  friend  and  companion,  a  treatment  rare,  indeed, 
at  a  time  when  few  sons  would  think  of  sitting  down  in 
their  father's  presence  until  told  to  do  so.  Since  he 
had  left  school  eight  years  before,  they  had  been  very 
much  together.  For  the  last  two  or  three  years  Mark 
had  been  a  good  deal  out  with  his  own  friends,  but  in 
this  his  father  had  encouraged  him. 

"  I  like  to  see  you  make  your  own  friends,  Mark,  and 
go  your  own  way,"  he  used  to  say ;  "it  is  as  bad  for  a 
lad  to  be  tied  to  his  father's  coat-tail  as  to  his  mother's 
apron-string.  You  get  fresh  ideas  and  form  your  own 
opinions.  It  will  do  for  you  what  a  public  school  would 
have  done, — make  you  self-reliant  and  independent." 

Still,  of  course,  a  great  portion  of  his  time  had  been 
spent  with  his  father,  and  they  would  ride  round  the  es- 
tate together,  talk  to  the  tenants,  and  walk  in  the  gardens 
and  forcing-houses.  Generally  Mark  would  be  driven 
by  his  father  to  the  meet  if  it  took  place  at  any  dis- 
tance, and  send  on  his  horse  beforehand  by  a  groom, 
while  of  an  evening  they  would  sit  in  the  library,  smoke 
their  long  pipes,  and  talk  over  politics  or  the  American 
and  French  wars. 

All  this  was  over.  There  was  but  one  thing  now 
that  he  could  do  for  his  father,  and  that  was  revenge 
his  death,  and  at  the  thought  he  rose  from  his  bed  im- 
patiently and  paced  up  and  down  the  room.  He  must 
wait  for  a  week,  wait  till  the  funeral  was  over,  and  then 
he  would  be  on  Bastow's  track.  If  in  all  other  ways  he 
failed,  he  would  spend  his  time  in  coaches  until  at  last 


io6  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

the  villain  should  try  to  stop  one  ;  but  there  must  be 
other  ways.  Could  he  find  no  other,  he  would  apply  for 
employment  as  a  Bow  Street  runner,  serve  for  a  year  to 
find  out  their  methods,  and  acquaint  himself  with  the 
places  where  criminals  were  harboured.  It  would  be 
the  one  object  of  his  life,  until  he  succeeded  in  laying 
his  hand  on  Bastow's  shoulder.  He  would  not  shoot 
him  if  he  could  help  it.  He  should  prefer  to  see  him 
in  the  dock  and  to  hear  the  sentence  passed  on  him  and 
to  see  it  carried  out.  As  to  the  treasure,  it  was  not 
worth  a  thought  till  his  first  duty  was  discharged. 

Presently  a  servant  brought  him  a  cup  of  tea.  He 
drank  it  mechanically  and  then  proceeded  to  dress 
himself  Sir  Charles  Harris  would  be  here  soon  and 
the  others  ;  indeed,  he  had  scarcely  finished  when  he 
was  told  that  the  doctor  from  Reigate  had  just  arrived, 
and  that  the  constable  had  come  up  half  an  hour  before. 
He  at  once  went  down  to  the  library  into  which  the 
doctor  had  been  shown. 

"You  have  heard  what  has  happened,"  he  said,  as  he 
shook  hands  silently.  "  I  expect  Sir  Charles  Harris  here 
in  half  an  hour.  I  suppose  you  will  not  go  up  till 
then." 

"  No,  I  think  it  will  be  best  that  no  one  should  go  in 
until  he  comes.  I  have  been  speaking  to  Simcox ;  he 
was  going  in,  but  I  told  him  I  thought  it  was  better  to 
wait.  I  may  as  well  take  the  opportunity  of  going  up- 
stairs to  see  Mr.  Bastow.  I  hear  that  he  fainted  when 
he  heard  the  news,  and  that  he  is  completely  prostrate." 

"Two  such  shocks  might  well  prove  fatal  to  him," 
Mark  said  ;  "  he  has  been  weak  and  ailing  for  some  time." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  107 

"Two  shocks?"  the  doctor  repeated,  interrogatively. 

"  Ah  !  I  forgot  you  had  not  heard  about  the  affair 
yesterday  evening  :  a  man  fired  at  us  through  the  win- 
dow when  we  were  sitting  round  the  fire,  before  the 
candles  were  lit  The  ball  passed  between  my  father's 
head  and  Mr.  Bastow's  ;  each  had  a  narrow  escape  ;  the 
bullet  is  embedded  in  the  mantel-piece." 

"  I  will  have  it  cut  out ;  it  may  be  a  useful  item  of 
evidence  some  day.  But  what  could  have  been  the 
man's  motive?     Your  father  was  universally  popular." 

"Except  with  ill-doers,"  Mark  said.  "I  ran  out  and 
chased  the  fellow  for  half  a  mile,  and  should  have  caught 
him  if  he  had  not  had  a  horse  waiting  for  him  in  a  lane, 
and  he  got  off  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth.  I  hope  that 
next  time  I  meet  him  he  will  not  be  so  lucky.  Mr. 
Bastow  was  very  much  shaken,  and  went  to  bed  soon 
after\vards.  I  am  not  surprised  that  this  second  shock 
should  be  too  much  for  him.  Will  you  go  up  and  see 
him?     I  will  speak  to  Simcox." 

The  constable  was  out  in  the  garden. 

"This  is  a  terrible  business,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I 
suppose,  after  what  you  told  me,  you  have  your  sus- 
picions?" 

"They  are  not  suspicions  at  all,  they  are  certainties. 
Did  you  hear  that  he  tried  to  shoot  my  father  yesterday 
evening?" 

"  No,  sir,  I  have  heard  nothing  about  it." 

Mark  repeated  the  story  of  the  attempt  and  pursuit 

"Could  you  swear  to  him,  Mr.  Thorndyke?" 

"  No  ;  there  was  not  much  light  left ;  besides,  as  I  had 
not  seen  him  for  the  last  eight  years,  I  should  certainly 


io8  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

not  be  able  to  recognise  him  unless  I  had  time  to  have 
a  good  look  at  him  ;  had  it  only  been  last  night's  affair 
it  might  have  been  anyone  ;  but  the  shooting  through 
the  window  was  not  the  act  of  a  thief,  but  of  an  assas- 
sin, who  could  only  have  been  influenced  by  private 
enmity.  I  quite  see  that  at  present  I  have  no  legal  evi- 
dence against  him  ;  I  cannot  even  prove  that  he  is  in  the 
country,  for  it  cannot  be  said  that  my  father's  belief  that 
he  recognised  the  voice  of  the  man  who  said,  'Stand 
and  deliver  !'  is  proof.  No  jury  would  convict  on  that, 
even  had  he  felt  absolutely  certain,  which  he  was  not 
I  doubt  if  anyone  could  swear  that,  when  he  only  heard 
three  words,  he  was  absolutely  sure  that  it  was  the  voice 
of  a  man  that  he  had  not  seen  for  some  years.  How- 
ever, fortunately,  that  will  make  no  difference  ;  the  man 
is  wanted  for  his  heading  a  mutiny  in  the  convict  prison 
at  Sydney,  killing  several  warders,  and  making  his  escape, 
which  will  be  quite  sufficient  to  hang  him  without  this 
business.  But  I  own  that  I  should  prefer  that  he  were 
hanged  for  my  father's  murder  if  we  could  secure  suffi- 
cient evidence.  Moreover,  there  is  the  attack  upon  us 
three  or  four  months  ago,  and,  with  the  evidence  of  the 
surgeon  who  attended  him,  as  to  his  wound,  that  would 
be  enough  to  hang  him.  But  we  have  first  got  to  catch 
him,  and  that  I  mean  to  make  my  business,  however  long 
the  search  may  take  me." 

"Was  anything  taken  last  night,  sir?" 

"  I  don't  know.  I  did  not  look.  We  shall  see  to  that 
when  we  go  upstairs.  We  may  as  well  go  indoors  now  ; 
Sir  Charles  may  be  here  in  a  few  minutes,  and  I  want  to 
hear  Dr.  HoUoway's  report  as  to  Mr.  Bastow." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  109 

"He  does  not  suspect,  I  hope,  sir?" 

"  No,  thank  God  !  my  father  never  mentioned  any- 
thing he  heard  about  his  son  to  him,  or  his  suspicions ; 
therefore,  he  has  no  reason  to  believe  that  his  son  is  not 
still  in  the  convict  prison  at  Sydney.  We  shall  keep  it 
from  him  now,  whatever  happens  ;  but  it  would,  for  his 
sake,  be  best  that  this  shock  should  prove  too  much  for 
him.      He  has  had  a  very  hard  time  of  it  altogether." 

"  He  is  terribly  prostrate,"  the  doctor  reported,  when 
Mark  joined  him.  "  I  don't  think  that  he  will  get  over 
it.  He  is  scarcely  conscious  now.  You  see,  he  is  an 
old  man,  and  has  no  reserve  of  strength  to  fall  back 
upon.  Your  father  has  been  such  a  good  friend  to  him 
that  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  news  should  have  been 
too  much  for  him.  I  examined  him  at  the  Squire's  re- 
quest some  month's  ago  as  to  his  heart's  action,  which 
was  so  weak  that  I  told  the  Squire  then  that  he  might 
go  off  at  any  time,  and  I  rather  wonder  that  he  recovered 
even  temporarily  from  the  shock." 

In  a  few  minutes  Sir  Charles  Harris  drove  up. 

"This  is  terrible  news,  my  dear  Mark,"  he  said,  as  he 
leapt  from  his  gig,  and  wrung  Mark's  hand  ;  "  terrible  ! 
I  don't  know  when  I  have  had  such  a  shock  ;  he  was  a 
noble  fellow  in  all  respects,  a  warm  friend,  an  excellent 
magistrate,  a  kind  landlord,  good  all  round.  I  can 
scarcely  believe  it  yet.  A  burglar,  of  course.  I  sup- 
pose he  entered  the  house  for  the  purpose  of  robbery, 
when  your  father  awoke  and  jumped  out  of  bed,  there 
was  a  tussle,  and  the  scoundrel  killed  him  ;  at  least,  that 
is  what  I  gather  from  the  story  that  the  groom  told 
me." 


no  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

An  examination  of  the  room  showed  nothing  what- 
ever that  would  afford  the  sHghtest  clue  ;  the  Squire's 
watch  was  still  in  the  watch-pocket  at  the  head  of  the 
bed,  his  purse  was  on  a  small  table  beside  him  ;  appa- 
rently nothing  had  been  touched  in  the  room. 

The  gardener,  on  being  called  in,  said  that  the  ladder 
was  always  hung  up  outside  the  shed  at  the  back  of  the 
house ;  there  was  a  chain  round  it,  and  he  had  found 
that  morning  that  one  of  the  links  had  been  filed  through. 

' '  I  expect  the  fellow  was  prowling  about  here  for 
some  time,"  Mark  said.  "  I  was  chatting  with  my  father 
in  the  library  when  I  thought  I  heard  a  noise,  and  I 
threw  open  the  window,  which  had  by  some  carelessness 
been  left  a  little  open,  and  went  out,  and  listened  for 
nearly  an  hour,  but  I  could  hear  nothing,  and  put  it 
down  to  the  fact  that  I  was  nervous  owing  to  what  had 
happened  early  in  the  evening,  and  that  the  noise  was 
simply  fancy,  or  that  the  frost  had  caused  a  dry  branch 
of  one  of  the  shrubs  to  crack." 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  inquest  occupied  a  very  short  time,  the  only 
point  on  which  many  questions  were  asked  being 
as  to  the  firing  through  the  window.  Mark  stated 
that  it  was  already  so  dark  that,  although  he  was  within 
fifty  yards  of  the  man  when  he  mounted  and  rode  off, 
he  could  not  give  any  very  distinct  description  of  his 
figure.  It  struck  him  as  being  that  of  a  man  of  medium 
height 

"  You  have  made  out  that  the  bullet  was  intended  for 
your  father?" 

"  I  cannot  say  that,  sir  ;  it  went  between  his  head  and 
that  of  Mr.  Bastow,  and  it  might  have  been  meant  for 
either." 

"  Was  your  father  impressed  with  the  idea  that  it  was 
an  attempt  to  murder  him  ?" 

"  He  naturally  thought  so.  Mr.  Bastow  can  assuredly 
have  no  enemies,  while  my  father,  as  a  magistrate,  may 
have  made  some.  He  certainly  thought  it  was  an  at- 
tempt to  murder  him,  and  was  so  impressed  by  the  fact 


112  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

that  when  he  went  to  the  Hbrary  later  on  he  went  into 
certain  family  matters  with  me  that  he  had  never  com- 
municated before,  and  which,  had  it  not  been  for  this, 
he  would  not  have  entered  into  for  some  years  to  come," 

"  He  had  his  opinion  then  as  to  who  was  his  assail- 
ant ?" 

"  He  had,  sir  ;  but  as  it  was  but  an  opinion,  although 
there  were  several  facts  that  seemed  to  justify  the  convic- 
tion, there  was  no  proof  whatever,  and  therefore  I  do  not 
think  myself  justified  in  saying  what  that  opinion  was." 

"  Do  you  entertain  the  same  opinion  yourself?" 

"I  do,"  Mark  said,  emphatically;  "but  until  I  can 
obtain  some  evidence  in  support  of  what  is  really  but  a 
matter  of  opinion,  and  because  were  I  to  give  the  name 
it  would  lessen  my  chance  of  obtaining  such  evidence,  I 
decline  to  mention  the  name." 

"  You  have  no  doubt  that  the  author  of  the  second 
attempt  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  first?" 

"  Personally,  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  ;  it  stands  to 
reason  that  it  is  barely  possible  that  two  men  could  have, 
unknown  to  each  other,  made  up  their  minds  to  murder 
my  father  on  the  same  evening." 

The  constable's  evidence  added  nothing  to  that  given 
by  Mark,  He  had  been  down  to  the  lane  where  the 
man  pursued  had  mounted.  The  reins  of  the  horse  had 
apparently  been  thrown  over  a  gate-post,  and  he  thought 
it  had  been  standing  there  for  some  little  time,  for  there 
were  marks  where  it  had  scraped  the  ground  repeatedly  ; 
he  had  followed  the  marks  of  its  hoofs  for  some  distance  ; 
it  had  gone  at  a  gallop  for  about  half  a  mile,  and  then 
the  pace  had  slackened  into  a  trot.     It  continued  until 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  113 

the  lane  fell  into  the  main  road,  but  beyond  this  he  had 
been  unable  to  distinguish  it  from  the  marks  of  the  traffic 
in  general. 

"  You  found  no  footprints  whatever  near  the  foot  of 
the  ladder  or  anywhere  else  round  the  house?" 

"  None  whatever,  sir." 

"  There  were  no  signs  of  any  other  window  or  door 
save  that  of  Mr.  Thorndyke's  room  being  attempted  ?' ' 

"  None  at  all,  sir." 

There  was  but  a  short  consultation  between  the  jurors, 
who  at  once  returned  a  verdict  of  "Wilful  murder  by 
some  person  or  persons  unknown." 

Dr.  HoUoway  had,  after  giving  evidence,  returned  at 
once  to  Mr.  Bastow's  room.  The  only  point  of  impor- 
tance in  his  evidence  was  the  statement  that  the  wound 
must  have  been  fatal  at  once,  the  heart  itself  having  been 
penetrated.  It  had  been  inflicted  by  a  dagger  or  a  nar- 
row-bladed  knife. 

"  Do  you  mean  that  it  was  an  unusually  small  dagger. 
Dr.  Holloway?" 

"  I  should  say  it  was  a  very  fine  dagger  ;  not  the  sort 
of  weapon  that  you  would  expect  to  find  a  highwayman 
carry,  if  he  carried  one  at  all,  but  rather  a  weapon  of 
Spanish  or  Italian  manufacture." 

"  Not  the  sort  of  wound  that  a  rapier  would  make  ?' ' 

"Yes,  the  wound  itself  might  have  been  very  well 
made  by  a  light  rapier,  but  there  was  a  slight  bruise  on 
the  flesh  on  each  side  of  the  wound,  such  a  mark  as 
might  be  made  by  the  handle  or  guard  of  a  dagger  and 
sufficiently  plain  to  leave  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  it 
was  so  made." 

8 


114  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  Had  the  wound  a  downward  course,  or  was  it  a 
straight  thrust?" 

"A  straight  thrust,"  the  doctor  rephed  ;  "my  idea  is 
that  the  two  men  were  grappling  together,  and  that  as 
Mr.  Thorndyke  was  a  very  powerful  man,  his  assailant, 
who  probably  was  approaching  the  bed  with  the  dagger 
in  his  hand,  plunged  it  into  him  ;  had  he  struck  at  him 
I  should  certainly  have  expected  the  course  of  the 
wound  to  be  downward,  as  I  fancy  a  man  very  seldom 
thrusts  straight  with  a  dagger,  as  he  would  do  with  a 
rapier." 

When  the  inquest  was  over,  Mark,  going  out  into  the 
hall,  found  the  doctor  waiting  there  for  him. 

'  *  Mr.  Bastow  breathed  his  last  some  ten  minutes  ago. 
I  saw  when  I  went  up  to  him  just  before  I  gave  my  evi- 
dence that  it  was  likely  that  he  would  die  before  I  re- 
turned to  the  room." 

"I  am  very  sorry,"  Mark  said,  "although  I  expected 
nothing  else  from  what  you  told  me.  He  was  a  very 
kind-hearted  man  ;  no  one  could  have  had  a  kinder  or 
more  patient  tutor  than  he  was  to  me,  while  my  father 
regarded  him  as  a  very  dear  and  valued  friend.  I  am 
expecting  the  undertaker  here  in  a  few  minutes,  and 
they  can  both  be  buried  at  the  same  time." 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  Millicent  came 
down  with  Mrs.  Cunningham.  The  news  of  Mr.  Bas- 
tow's  death  had  set  her  tears  flowing  afresh  ;  she  had 
been  very  fond  of  him,  and  that  he  and  the  Squire 
should  have  been  taken  at  once  seemed  almost  beyond 
belief.  She  had,  however,  nerved  herself  to  some 
degree  of  composure  before   she  went  down  to  meet 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  115 

Mark,  but  although  she  returned  the  pressure  of  his 
hand,  she  was  unable  for  some  time  to  speak.  Mrs. 
Cunningham  thought  it  best  to  speak  first  of  the  minor 
grief 

"So  Mr.  Bastow  has  gone,  Mark?" 

"Yes  ;  Dr.  Holloway  thought  very  badly  of  him  from 
the  first,  and  said  that  he  had  but  very  faint  hope  of  his 
rallying.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  it  was  best  so. 
Of  course,  he  was  not  a  very  old  man,  but  he  has  for 
some  years  been  a  very  feeble  one,  and  now  that  Milli- 
cent  and  I  have  both  given  up  our  studies  with  him,  I 
think  that  he  would  have  felt  that  his  work  was  done, 
and  would  have  gone  down  hill  very  fast." 

"I  think  so,  too,"  Mrs.  Cunningham  agreed,  "I  am 
sure  that  even  had  the  Squire's  death  come  quietly,  in 
the  course  of  nature,  it  would  have  been  a  terrible  blow 
to  him.  He  was  fond  of  you  and  Millicent,  but  his 
affection  for  your  father  was  a  passion,  his  face  always 
lit  up  when  he  spoke  to  him.  I  used  to  think  some- 
times that  it  was  like  an  old  dog  with  his  master.  It 
was  quite  touching  to  see  them  together.  I  think, 
Mark,  with  you,  that  it  is  best  that  it  should  be  as  it 
is." 

Gradually  the  conversation  turned  to  other  matters. 
Millicent  was,  however,  unable  to  take  any  part  in  it, 
and  half  an  hour  later  she  held  out  her  hand  silently  to 
Mark  and  left  the  room  hurriedly.  The  next  day  she 
was  better,  and  was  able  to  walk  for  a  time  with  Mark 
in  the  garden  and  talk  more  calmly  about  their  mutual 
loss,  for  to  her,  no  less  than  to  Mark,  the  Squire  had 
been  a  father. 


1 16  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  'Tis  strange  to  think  that  you  are  the  Squire  now, 
Mark,"  she  said,  as  they  sat  together  in  the  dining-room 
on  the  evening  before  the  funeral. 

"You  will  think  it  stranger  still,  Millicent,"  he  said, 
"when  I  tell  you  that  I  am  not  the  Squire,  and  never 
shall  be," 

She  looked  up  in  his  face  with  wonder. 

"What  do  you  mean,  Mark?" 

"  Well,  dear,  you  will  know  to-morrow,  as  Mr.  Pren- 
dergast,  one  of  the  family  solicitors,  is  coming  down, 
but  I  think  it  is  as  well  to  tell  you  beforehand.  It  has 
been  a  curious  position  all  along.  I  never  knew  it  my- 
self till  my  father  told  me  when  we  went  into  the  library 
after  the  shot  was  fired.  The  news  did  not  affect  me 
one  way  or  the  other,  although  it  surprised  me  a  great 
deal.  Like  yourself,  I  have  always  supposed  that  you 
were  my  father's  ward,  the  daughter  of  an  old  comrade 
of  his  brother's.  Well,  it  is  a  curious  story,  Millicent. 
But  there  is  no  occasion  for  you  to  look  frightened.  The 
fact  is,  you  are  my  uncle's  daughter  and  my  cousin." 

"  Oh,  that  is  not  very  dreadful  !' '  she  exclaimed,  in  a 
tone  of  relief 

"Not  dreadful  at  all,"  Mark  said.  "But  you  see  it 
involves  the  fact  that  you  are  the  owner  of  this  estate, 
and  not  I." 

Millicent  stood  up  suddenly,  with  a  little  cry. 

"  No,  no,  Mark,  it  cannot  be.  It  would  be  dreadful, 
and  I  won't  have  it.  Nothing  could  make  me  have  it. 
What,  to  take  the  estate  away  from  you,  when  you  have 
all  along  supposed  it  to  be  yours  !     How  could  I  ?" 

"  But   you    see  it  never  has   been   mine,  my  dear. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  117 

Father  might  have  Hved  another  five-and-twenty  years, 
and  God  knows  I  have  never  looked  forward  to  succeed- 
ing him.  Sit  down  and  let  me  tell  you  the  story.  It 
was  not  my  father's  fault  that  he  reigned  here  so  long  as 
master.  It  was  the  result  of  a  whim  of  your  father's. 
And  although  my  father  fought  against  it,  he  could  not 
resist  the  dying  prayer  of  my  uncle." 

He  then  related  the  whole  circumstances  under  which 
the  girl  had  been  brought  up  as  Millicent  Conyers,  in- 
stead of  Millicent  Conyers  Thorndyke,  and  how  the 
estate  had  been  left  by  Colonel  Thorndyke's  will  to  his 
brother,  until  such  time  as  Millicent  should  come  of  age, 
or  marry,  and  how  he  had  ordered  that  when  that  event 
took  place,  the  rest  of  his  property  in  money  and  jewels 
was  to  be  divided  equally  between  Mark  and  herself 

"  Mrs.  Cunningham  has  known  this  all  along,  Mark  ?" 

"Yes,  of  course.  She  brought  you  from  India,  you 
see,  and  has  known  all  along  that  the  colonel  was  your 
father.  She  knows  it,  and  the  family  solicitors  know  it, 
but  I  believe  no  one  else,  except,  perhaps,  Ramoo.  I 
am  not  sure  whether  he  was  in  uncle's  service  when  you 
were  sent  over  in  Mrs.  Cunningham's  charge.  He  may 
know  it  or  he  may  not,  but  certainly  no  one  else  does, 
except,  as  I  say,  the  solicitors  and  myself  Possibly 
some  other  of  the  colonel's  old  comrades  knew  that 
there  was  a  child  born,  but  if  they  were  in  England  and 
happened  to  hear  that  my  father  had  succeeded  to  the 
estate,  they  would,  of  course,  suppose  that  the  child  had 
died." 

"Then,"  Millicent  said,  in  a  tone  of  relief,  "there  can 
be  no  reason  why  anyone  else  should  know  anything 


ii8  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

about  it.  I  will  see  Mr.  Prendergast  when  he  comes 
down  to-morrow,  and  beg  him  to  say  nothing  about  it. 
^15,000  is  quite  enough  for  any  girl,  and,  besides,  you 
say  that  my  father's  greatest  wish  was  that  I  was  not  to 
be  married  for  money,  and  after  all  the  pains  that  have 
been  taken,  his  wish  will  not  be  carried  out  if  I  am  to  be 
made  owner  of  the  estate." 

"  You  won't  be  able  to  persuade  Mr.  Prendergast  to 
do  that,"  Mark  said,  smiling.  "  It  is  his  duty  simply  to 
carry  out  the  provisions  of  your  father's  will,  and  to 
place  you  in  possession  of  the  estate,  and  if  he  would 
keep  silence,  which  he  certainly  won't,  you  don't  sup- 
pose that  I  would." 

"Then  I  shall  hate  you,  Mark." 

"  I  don't  think  you  will,  Millicent,  and  I  would  rather 
that  you  did  that  than  that  you  should  despise  me  ;  at  the 
present  moment  you  may  think  that  this  estate  would 
be  only  a  burden  to  you,  but  some  day  when  you  marry 
you  might  see  the  matter  in  a  different  light." 

The  girl  looked  at  him  reproachfully. 

At  this  moment,  Mrs.  Cunningham  coming  into  the 
room,  Millicent  ran  to  her  and  threw  her  arms  round 
her  neck. 

"  He  has  made  me  miserable,"  she  said.  "I  thought 
I  could  not  have  been  more  miserable  than  I  was  before 
he  told  me  all  about  it" 

"  I  knew  that  he  was  going  to  do  so,  and  I  was  quite 
sure  that  you  would  not  be  pleased  at  the  news.  I 
have  all  along  thought  that  it  was  a  mistake  on  the 
part  of  your  father  ;  but  as  it  was  his  decision,  and  not 
mine,  I  only  had  to  carry  out  his  wishes." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  119 

"It  is  cruel,"  Millicent  sobbed.  "I  don't  mean  it  is 
cruel  of  my  father  ;  of  course,  he  could  not  have  known, 
and  he  thought  he  was  doing  the  best  thing  for  my 
happiness,  but  it  has  all  turned  out  wrong." 

"  For  the  present  you  may  think  so,  dear ;  but  you 
must  remember  that  up  to  the  present  time  it  has 
turned  out  well.  I  know  that  your  uncle  did  not  like  it 
at  first,  but  I  think  that  he  passed  ten  happy  years  here. 
It  gave  him  great  power  for  doing  good,  and  he  worthily 
availed  himself  of  it.  We  have  all  spent  a  happy  time  ; 
he  was  universally  liked  and  respected.  I  think  all  of 
us  have  benefited  by  it.  It  would  not  have  been  half 
so  pleasant  if  it  had  been  known  that  you,  my  child, 
were  the  real  owner  of  the  estate,  and  he  was  acting 
merely  as  your  guardian  ;  let  us  hope  that  everything 
will  turn  out  as  well  in  future.  Colonel  Thorndyke 
told  me  that  he  had  left  a  considerable  sum  in  addition 
to  the  estates,  and  that  this  was  to  be  divided  between 
you  and  Mark  ;  so  you  see  your  cousin  will  not  go  out 
into  the  world  a  beggar." 

"  It  is  most  of  it  lost,"  Millicent  said,  with  an  hysteri- 
cal laugh.  "  It  is  all  hidden  away,  and  no  one  can  find 
it ;  everything  has  gone  wrong  together." 

"  Well,  I  think,  dear,  that  you  had  better  go  up  to 
bed.  I  will  go  with  you ;  at  the  present  time  this,  of 
course,  has  come  upon  you  as  an  additional  shock.  I 
would  gladly  have  shielded  you  from  it  for  a  time  if  I 
could  have  done  so,  but  you  must  have  learned  it  to- 
morrow, and  I  quite  agreed  with  Mark  that  it  was  better 
that  he  should  tell  you  this  evening.  I  sent  down  to 
the  town  to-day  to  the  doctor's,  and  asked  him  to  send 


I20  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

me  up  a  soothing  draught,  thinking,  that  you  might  be 
upset  by  the  news.  I  hope  by  the  morning  you  will  be 
able  to  look  at  matters  more  calmly." 

The  next  morning  Mr.  Prendergast,  who  had  arrived 
at  Reigate  late  the  evening  before,  and  had  put  up  at 
an  inn,  came  up  to  the  house  an  hour  before  the  time 
named  for  the  funeral.  He  learnt  from  Mark  that  he 
had  already  acquainted  Millicent  with  her  change  of 
circumstances.  A  few  minutes  after  he  arrived,  a  ser- 
vant told  him  that  Miss  Conyers  would  be  glad  if  he 
would  see  her  alone  for  a  few  minutes  in  the  draw- 
ing-room. Mark  had  already  prepared  him  for  her 
request. 

"  Mark  has  told  you  what  he  told  me  last  night,  I 
suppose,  Mr.  Prendergast?" 

"He  has,"  the  old  lawyer  said,  kindly,  "and  he 
tells  me  also  that  you  are  not  at  all  pleased  at  the 
news." 

"  Pleased !  I  should  think  not,  Mr.  Prendergast,"  she 
said,  indignantly.  "  I  am  unwilling  to  rob  my  cousin  of 
what  he  has  always  been  taught  to  regard  as  his  inheri- 
tance.    It  is  abominable,  I  call  it,  and  most  unnatural." 

"  But,  my  dear  young  lady,  it  is  yours  and  not  his.  I 
do  not  wish  to  discuss  whether  the  arrangement  was 
altogether  a  wise  one,  but  I  think  that  so  far  it  has 
turned  out  well  for  all  parties.  Your  estate  has  profited 
greatly  by  the  management  of  your  uncle,  the  tenants 
and  all  connected  with  it  have  benefited  greatly,  he  him- 
self has  had  active  employment  afforded  him,  of  which 
he  was  fond.  Your  cousin  has,  I  believe,  enjoyed  the 
advantages  of  the  position,  and  has  become  acquainted 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  121 

with  the  best  people  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  will 
now  obtain  the  benefit  of  something  like  ;^  15, 000;  a 
comfortable  little  sum,  especially  as  he  inherits,  I  be- 
lieve, his  father's  property  in  Sussex.  You  yourself  will 
have  obtained  what  I  cannot  but  consider  the  advantage 
of  having  been  brought  up  without  knowing  that  you 
were  an  heiress,  and  therefore  without  being  spoiled, 
which  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  case  with  many  young  ladies 
in  such  a  condition  ;  therefore,  I  cannot  but  think  that 
if  unwise  in  its  conception,  the  matter  has  so  far  worked 
out  well.  I  am  bound  to  say  that  Mr.  Mark  Thorndyke 
has  been  speaking  to  me  very  handsomely  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  that  he  appears  in  no  way  disappointed  at  find- 
ing that  you  are  the  heiress  of  the  estate,  and  is  really 
concerned  only  at  your  unwillingness  to  accept  the  situ- 
ation." 

"I  wanted  to  know,  Mr.  Prendergast,"  she  said,  but 
in  a  tone  that  showed  she  was  convinced  by  his  manner 
that  her  request  would  be  refused,  "  if  you  could  ar- 
range so  that  things  would  not  be  disturbed,  and  he 
should  come  into  possession  as  his  father's  heir  in  the 
natural  way." 

"  But  you  see,  he  is  not  his  father's  heir.  Miss  Thorn- 
dyke.  His  father  only  had  the  use,  as  we  call  it,  of  the 
property  until  you  came  of  age,  or  married  ;  it  was  not 
necessary  for  it  to  come  to  you  on  your  coming  of  age, 
but  only,  as  your  father  explained  to  me,  in  the  event  of 
your  marriage  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  was  not  to  become 
public  that  you  were  entitled  to  the  estate  until  your 
marriage.  If  you  married  before  you  were  twenty-one, 
the  property  was  then  to  come  to  you.     If  you  did  not, 


122  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

you  were  to  be  informed  of  the  circumstances  or  not, 
as  Mr.  Thorndyke  might  decide  was  best,  but  you  were 
not  to  come  into  the  property'  until  you  married.  Your 
cousin  was  also  to  be  informed  when  you  came  to  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  and  as  at  that  time  he  was  to  take  his 
half-share  of  the  remainder  of  the  property,  he  would 
then  be  able  to  arrange  his  life  as  he  liked.  If  your 
uncle  died,  as  unfortunately  he  has  done,  before  you 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-one,  you  would  then  be 
placed  in  your  proper  position  ;  but  your  father  desired 
us  to  say  to  you  that  it  was  his  wish  that,  if  it  could  be  ar- 
ranged, your  having  succeeded  to  the  ownership  should 
not  be  publicly  known  until  you  divulged  it  to  your  hus- 
band after  marriage.  The  other  portions  of  the  will 
must  be  carried  out.  This  being  only  a  request,  you  are 
at  liberty  to  follow  it  or  not,  as  you  may  choose." 

"  Certainly  I  should  choose,"  the  girl  said.  "  After  all 
this  trouble  to  prevent  my  being  run  after  as  an  heiress, 
it  would  be  wicked  on  my  part  to  upset  and  to  fly  in 
the  face  of  his  wishes  by  setting  up  as  mistress  of  this 
estate.  Still,  you  understand,  Mr.  Prendergast,  that  I 
don't  mean  to  take  it." 

The  lawyer  smiled  indulgently. 

"There  is  one  way  in  which  it  might  be  managed," 
he  said.      **  Perhaps  you  can  guess  what  it  is?" 

A  flush  of  colour  rose  over  the  girl's  face. 

"  Don't  say  it,  Mr.  Prendergast.  Mrs.  Cunningham 
hinted  at  it  this  morning,  and  I  told  her  that  my  own 
wish  entirely  agreed  with  that  of  my  father,  and  that  I 
was  determined  not  to  be  married  for  money  ;  and  I  am 
quite  sure  that  Mark  would  be  as  unwilling  as  I  am  that 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  123 

the  estate  should  change  hands  in  that  way.  No,  Mr. 
Prendergast,  you  must  find  some  other  way  of  doing  it 
than  that.  Surely  an  estate  cannot  be  forced  upon  any 
one  who  is  determined  not  to  take  it" 

"Well,  we  must  think  it  over,"  Mr.  Prendergast  said, 
quietly.  "And  now  I  think  that  it  is  time  for  me  to 
join  the  others." 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  funeral  of  Squire  Thorndyke  and  Mr.  Bastow 
was  over,  and  all  agreed  they  had  never  seen  a 
more  affecting  spectacle  than  that  at  the  church- 
yard when  the  two  coffins  were  brought  in.  The  dis- 
tance was  short,  and  the  tenants  had  requested  leave  to 
carry  the  Squire's  bier,  while  that  of  Mr.  Bastow  was 
borne  by  the  villagers  who  had  known  and  loved  him. 
Behind  followed  all  the  magistrates  and  a  great  number 
of  the  gentry  for  miles  round  ;  the  church-yard  was 
crowded  by  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  village, 
and  the  women  as  well  as  many  of  the  men  wept  un- 
restrainedly as  the  coffins  passed  by.  Besides  these,  a 
large  number  of  gentlemen  from  Reigate  and  the  sur- 
rounding villages  were  present,  attracted  rather  by  the 
crime  that  had  caused  the  death  than  by  the  death  of 
the  Squire  himself  The  church  was  crowded,  and  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  Mr.  Greg  read  the  service.  The  Squire 
was  laid  by  the  side  of  his  father,  Mr.  Bastow  in  the  spot 
where  many  of  his  predecessors  slept  before  him. 
124 


THE  BPIAHMINS'  TREASURE  125 

Mark  had  been  greatly  affected,  not  only  by  his  own 
loss,  but  by  the  sight  of  the  general  grief  among  those 
for  whom  the  Squire  had  done  so  much  ;  even  Mr. 
Prendergast,  who  had  taken  part  in  many  such  func- 
tions over  departed  clients,  was  much  moved  by  the 
scene. 

"  I  have  been  at  many  funerals,"  he  said  to  Mark,  as 
they  walked  back  to  the  Hall,  "  but  I  never  have  been 
at  one  that  so  affected  me.  No  monument  ever  raised, 
sir,  did  such  credit  to  him  that  was  laid  beneath  as  the 
tears  of  those  simple  villagers." 

Mark  did  not  reply  ;  his  heart  was  altogether  too  full 
to  speak.  As  they  entered  the  house  he  said,  "The 
ladies  will  have  their  lunch  upstairs,  Mr.  Prender- 
gast ;  we  may  as  well  have  ours  at  once,  and  then  you 
can  call  them  down  if  there  is  any  business  to  be 
done." 

"That will  not  take  long,"  the  lawyer  said.  "I  have 
brought  down  the  wills  of  both  your  uncle  the  colonel, 
and  your  father  ;  the  former  has  never  been  read,  and  I 
think  that  it  would  be  as  well  for  me  to  read  them  both. 
That  of  your  father  is  a  very  short  and  simple  docu- 
ment, extending,  indeed,  only  over  a  few  lines.  Your 
uncle's  is  longer  and  more  complicated,  but  as  you  are 
well  aware  of  the  gist  of  it,  it  will  take  us  but  a  short 
time  to  get  through  it." 

Mark  took  his  meal  in  a  perfunctory  manner.  For 
himself  he  would  have  eaten  nothing,  but  he  made  an 
effort  to  do  so  in  order  to  keep  his  guest  company. 
When  it  was  over  he  said, — 

"  We  may  as  well  go  into  the  library  at  once,  and  I 


126  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

will  send  up  for  the  ladies.  It  is  as  well  to  lose  no 
time,  for  I  know  that  you  want  to  catch  the  afternoon 
coach  up  to  town." 

Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Millicent  joined  them  in  a 
minute  or  two,  the  girl  looking  very  pale  in  her  deep 
mourning. 

"  I  am  about,"  Mr.  Prendergast  said,  quietly,  "  to  read 
the  wills  of  Colonel  Thorndyke  and  Mr.  John  Thorn- 
dyke,  and  I  will  ask  you,  if  there  is  any  phrase  that  you 
do  not  understand,  to  stop  me,  and  I  will  explain  to 
you  its  purport." 

The  three  persons  present  were  acquainted  with  the 
main  provisions  of  the  colonel's  will.  It  began  by 
stating  that,  being  determined  that  his  daughter  Milli- 
cent Conyers  Thorndyke,  should  not  be  married  for  her 
money,  he  hereby  bequeathed  to  his  brother,  John 
Thorndyke,  his  estate  in  the  parish  of  Crowswood,  to 
be  held  by  him  until  his  daughter  Millicent  came  to  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  or  was  married  ;  if  that  marriage 
did  not  take  place  until  she  was  over  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  so  long  was  it  to  continue  in  John  Thomdyke's 
possession,  save  and  except  that  she  was,  on  attaining 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  to  receive  from  it  an  income  of 
;^2  50  a  year  for  her  private  use  and  disposal. 

"To  Jane  Cunningham,  the  widow  of  the  late  Captain 
Charles  Cunningham,  of  the  Tenth  Madras  Native  In- 
fantry, should  she  remain  with  my  daughter  until  the 
marriage  of  the  latter,  I  bequeath  an  annuity  of  ^^150 
per  annum,  chargeable  on  the  estate,  and  to  commence 
at  my  daughter's  marriage.     All  my  other  property  in 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  127 

moneys,  investments,  jewels,  and  chattels  of  all  sorts,  is 
to  be  divided  in  equal  portions  between  my  daughter, 
Millicent  Conyers  Thorndyke,  and  my  nephew,  Mark 
Thorndyke.  Should,  however,  my  daughter  die  before 
marriage,  I  bequeath  the  said  estate  in  the  parish  of 
Crowswood  to  my  brother,  John  Thorndyke,  for  his  life, 
and  after  him  to  his  son  Mark,  and  to  the  latter  the 
whole  of  my  other  property  of  all  kinds,  this  to  take 
effect  on  the  death  of  my  daughter.  Should  my  brother 
predecease  the  marriage  or  coming  of  age  of  my  daugh- 
ter, she  is  at  once  to  come  into  possession  of  the  said 
estate  of  Crowswood.  In  which  case  my  nephew,  Mark, 
and  Mr.  James  Prendergast,  of  the  firm  of  Hopwood  & 
Prendergast,  my  solicitors,  are  to  act  as  her  trustees,  and 
Mrs.  Jane  Cunningham  and  the  said  James  Prendergast 
as  her  guardians." 

All  this  was,  of  course,  expressed  in  the  usual  legal 
language,  but  the  purport  was  clear  to  those  previously 
acquainted  with  its  bearing,  the  only  item  that  was  new 
to  them  being  the  legacy  to  Mrs.  Cunningham.  John 
Thorndyke's  testament  was  a  short  one.  He  left  all  his 
property  to  his  son  Mark,  with  the  exception  of  ;^ioo 
to  his  niece  to  buy  a  mourning  ring  or  brooch  or  other 
ornament  in  memory  of  him,  £$0  to  Mrs.  Cunningham 
for  a  similar  purpose,  as  a  token  of  his  great  esteem 
for  her  character,  and  ;^200  to  Ramoo  for  his  faithful 
services  to  his  brother  and  himself 

When  the  lawyer  had  folded  up  the  wills,  Millicent 
said, — 

"  On  my  part,  I  have  to  say  that  I  absolutely  renounce 


128  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

the  legacy  of  the  estate  in  favour  of  my  cousin  Mark, 
who  has  always  believed  that  it  would  be  his." 

"And  I  as  absolutely  refuse  to  accept,"  Mark  said. 

"  My  dear  young  lady,"  Mr.  Prendergast  said,  quietly, 
"  at  present,  at  any  rate,  you  have  no  power  whatever 
to  take  any  action  in  the  matter ;  you  are,  in  the  eye  of 
the  law,  an  infant ;  and  until  you  come  of  age,  you  have 
no  power  to  execute  any  legal  document  whatever. 
Therefore,  you  must,  perforce,  remain  mistress  of  the 
estate  until  you  attain  the  age  of  twenty-one.  Many 
things  may  happen  before  that  time  ;  for  example,  you 
might  marry,  and  in  that  case  your  husband  would  have 
a  voice  in  the  matter ;  you  might  die,  in  which  case  Mr. 
Mark  Thorndyke  would,  without  any  effort  on  your  part, 
come  into  possession  of  the  estate  ;  but,  at  any  rate, 
until  you  reach  the  age  of  twenty-one  your  trustees  will 
collect  the  rents  of  the  estate  on  your  behalf,  and  will 
hold  the  moneys  in  trust  for  you,  making,  of  course,  such 
payments  for  your  support  and  maintenance  as  are  fit 
and  proper  for  your  condition." 

The  tears  came  into  Millicent's  eyes  as  she  resumed 
the  seat  from  which  she  had  risen,  and  she  did  not  utter 
another  word  until  Mr.  Prendergast  rose  to  leave. 

"She  is  thoroughly  upset,"  Mrs.  Cunningham  said, 
"  and  it  would  be  best  to  let  her  have  her  own  way  for 
a  time.  I  think  the  sooner  I  can  get  her  away  from  here 
the  better.  The  house  is  full  of  sad  memories,  and  I 
myself  feel  shaken  and  in  need  of  a  change." 

"  I  can  quite  understand  her  feeling  and  yours,  Mrs. 
Cunningham.  I  do  hope  you  will  be  able  to  disabuse 
her  mind  of  the  idea  that  I  have  any  shadow  of  feeling 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  129 

of  regret  that  she  instead  of  I  has  the  estate,  and  please 
try  to  work  upon  her  on  the  ground  of  her  father's 
wishes.  I  could  see  that  her  face  changed  when  Mr. 
Prendergast  put  the  matter  in  that  light,  which  I  do  not 
think  had  occurred  to  her  before.  I  am  thinking  of 
going  up  to  town  in  a  couple  of  days ;  I  was  thinking 
of  doing  so  to-morrow,  but  a  day  or  so  will  make  no  dif- 
ference. I  propose  that  you  both  go  with  me,  and  that 
I  then  help  you  to  look  for  a  house.  Even  if  you  don't 
get  one  at  once,  a  week  in  London  will  be  a  change,  and 
you  can  then,  if  you  like,  go  somewhere  for  a  time.  Of 
course,  Bath  would  be  too  gay  at  present,  but  you  might 
go  to  Tunbridge  Wells  ;  or,  if  she  would  like  a  sea-side 
place,  as  she  has  never  been  near  the  sea  since  she  was 
a  baby,  that  would  be  the  greatest  change  for  her.  You 
might  go  down  for  a  month  or  two  to  Dover  or  Hastings. 
There  is  no  occasion  for  you  to  settle  down  in  London 
for  a  time  ;  there  is  Weymouth,  if  you  would  like  it 
better.  I  believe  that  that  is  a  cheerful  place  without 
being  too  fashionable." 

Late  in  the  afternoon  Ramoo  came  in  in  his  usual 
silent  manner.  The  man  had  said  but  little  during  the 
past  few  days,  but  it  was  evident  that  he  was  grieving 
deeply,  and  he  looked  years  older  than  he  had  done 
before  that  fatal  night. 

"Of  course,  Ramoo,  you  will  stay  with  me  for  the 
present  I  hardly  know  what  I  shall  be  doing  for  a 
time,  but  I  am  sure  that  until  I  settle  down  Miss  Con- 
yers  will  be  very  glad  to  have  you  with  her." 

"  No,  sahib,  Ramoo  will  return  home  to  India  ;  Ramoo 
is  getting  old  ;  he  was  thirty  when  he  entered  the  service 

9 


I30  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

of  the  colonel,  sahib  ;  he  is  forty-six  now ;  he  will  go 
home  to  end  his  days  ;  he  has  saved  enough  to  live  in 
comfort,  and  with  what  the  lawyer  sahib  told  him  your 
father  had  left  him, — ;^200, — he  will  be  a  rich  man 
among  his  own  people." 

"  But  you  will  find  things  changed,  Ramoo,  since  you 
left,  while  here,  you  know,  we  all  regard  you  as  a  friend 
rather  than  as  a  servant." 

"You  are  all  very  kind  and  good,  sahib.  Ramoo 
knows  that  he  will  meet  no  friends  like  those  he  has 
here,  but  he  longs  for  the  bright  sun  and  blue  sky  of 
India,  and  though  it  will  well-nigh  break  his  heart  to 
leave  the  young  missie  and  you,  he  feels  that  he  must 

go-" 

"All  right,  Ramoo  ;  we  shall  all  be  very  sorry  to  lose 
you,  but  I  understand  your  longing  to  go  home,  and  I 
know  that  you  always  feel  our  cold  winter  to  be  very 
trying  to  you,  therefore  I  will  not  oppose  your  wishes. 
I  shall  be  going  up  to  town  in  two  or  three  days,  and 
will  arrange  to  pay  your  legacy  at  once,  and  will  enquire 
what  vessels  are  sailing." 

Although  not  inclined  at  the  present  time  to  agree 
with  Mark  in  anything,  Millicent  could  not  but  acknow- 
ledge that  it  were  best  that  Ramoo  should  not  be  urged 
further  to  reconsider  his  determination,  and  she  also  fell 
in  with  his  proposal  that  they  should  go  up  to  Lon- 
don for  a  week  and  then  go  down  to  Weymouth  for  a 
time,  after  which  they  would  be  guided  by  circum- 
stances. 

Accordingly,  two  days  later,  Mark  drove  Millicent 
and  Mrs.  Cunningham  up  to  London.     A  groom  ac- 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  131 

companied  them  on  Mark's  favourite  horse.  This  was 
to  be  left  in  town  for  his  use,  and  the  groom  was  to 
drive  the  carriage  back  again.  Comfortable  rooms 
were  obtained  in  a  quiet  inn  for  the  ladies,  while  Mark 
put  up  at  the  Bull,  saying  that  he  would  come  every 
day  to  take  them  out. 

Till  within  the  last  year  Millicent  had  been  little  more 
than  a  child  ;  she  had  looked  up  to  Mark  as  she  might 
have  done  to  a  big  brother,  something  most  admirable, 
as  one  whose  dictum  was  law.  During  the  last  year 
there  had  been  some  slight  change,  but  more  perhaps 
on  Mark's  part  than  on  hers.  He  had  consulted  her 
wishes  more,  had  asked  instead  of  ordered,  and  had 
begun  to  treat  her  as  if  conscious  that  she  was  fast 
growing  up  into  womanhood. 

Millicent  herself  scarcely  seemed  to  have  noticed  'this 
change.  She  was  little  more  inclined  to  assert  herself 
than  before,  but  was  ready  to  accompany  him  whenever 
he  wished  her  to  do  so,  or  to  see  him  go  away  without 
complaint  when  it  so  pleased  him  ;  but  the  last  week 
had  made  a  rapid  change  in  their  positions.  Millicent 
had  sprung  almost  at  a  bound  into  a  young  woman. 
She  had  come  to  think  and  resolve  for  herself;  she  was 
becoming  wayward  and  fanciful ;  she  no  longer  deferred 
to  Mark's  opinion,  but  held  her  own,  and  was  capable 
of  being  vexed  at  his  decisions.  At  any  rate,  her  rela- 
tions with  Mark  had  changed  rapidly,  and  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham considered  this  little  outburst  of  pettishness  to  be 
a  good  omen  for  her  hopes,  and  very  much  better  than 
if  they  had  continued  on  their  old  footing  of  affection- 
ate cousins. 


132  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

Mark  went  to  the  lawyer's  and  had  a  long  talk  with 
Mr.  Prendergast  over  the  lost  treasure.  On  leaving  the 
lawyer's,  he  went  to  Bow  Street,  and  related  to  the  chief 
the  circumstances  attending  his  father's  murder. 

"  I  have  heard  them  from  the  man  I  sent  down  at 
your  request,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  and,  taking  the  attempt 
early  in  the  evening  and  the  subsequent  murder,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  affair  was  one  of  revenge  and 
not  of  robbery.  Had  the  second  attempt  stood  alone, 
robbery  might  have  been  the  object  ;  the  mere  fact  that 
nothing  was  stolen  in  no  way  alters  the  case.  Men  are 
often  seized  with  a  certain  panic  after  committing  a 
murder,  and  fly  at  once  without  attempting  to  carry 
out  their  original  purpose.  Your  father  no  doubt  fell 
heavily,  and  the  man  might  well  have  feared  that  the 
fall"  would  be  heard,  but  the  previous  attempt  precludes 
the  supposition  that  robbery  was  at  the  bottom  of  it. 
It  points  to  a  case  of  revenge,  and  certainly  goes  a  very 
long  way  to  support  the  theory  that  we  talked  over 
when  I  last  saw  you,  that  the  highwayman  who  en- 
deavoured to  stop  you  on  the  road,  whom  you  wounded, 
and  who  afterwards  went  down  to  Southampton,  was 
the  escaped  convict,  Bastow.  Since  that  time  I  have 
had  a  man  making  enquiries  along  the  road  between 
Reigate  and  Kingston,  but  altogether  without  success. 
I  should  be  glad  to  follow  up  any  other  line  that  you 
might  suggest,  and  that  might  offer  any  reasonable 
possibility  of  success,  but  I  must  own  that  at  present 
we  are  entirely  off  the  scent." 

"  I  am  thinking  of  devoting  myself  entirely  to  the 
quest.     I  have  no  occupation  at  present     I  have  an 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  133 

income  amply  sufficient  for  my  wants,  with  all  expenses 
that  I  may  incur,  and  I  intend  to  devote,  if  necessary, 
some  years  of  my  life  to  hunting  this  man  down.  As 
your  men  have  searched  without  success  in  the  country,  I 
think  for  the  present  my  best  plan  will  be  to  devote  my- 
self to  learning  something  of  the  ways  and  haunts  of  the 
criminal  classes  of  London,  and  it  is  with  that  object  that 
I  have  come  to  you  now.  I  should  like,  for  some  time,  at 
any  rate,  to  enter  the  detective  force  as  an  enrolled  mem- 
ber. I  should,  of  course,  require  no  pay,  but  would  be 
prepared  to  obey  all  orders  and  to  do  any  work  required, 
as  any  other  member  of  the  corps  would  do.  I  am 
strong,  active,  and  have,  I  hope,  a  fair  share  of  intelli- 
gence. I  should  not  mind  risking  my  life  in  carrying 
out  any  duty  that  you  might  assign  to  me.  I  presume 
that  I  need  not  always  be  on  duty,  and  could,  when  not 
required,  employ  my  time  as  I  liked,  and  keep  up  my 
acquaintances  in  town.  Should  it  be  otherwise,  how- 
ever, I  am  perfectly  ready  to  submit  myself  in  all  re- 
spects to  your  rule.  I  have  a  first-rate  horse,  and  would 
be  available  for  country  duty,  wherever  you  might  think 
fit  to  send  me.  I  should  not  desire  any  distinction  to 
be  made  between  me  and  the  paid  officers." 

"  Your  proposal  is  an  altogether  novel  one,  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke,  but  it  is  worthy  of  consideration.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  you  would  make  a  very  useful  officer  ;  the  work  is 
certainly  interesting,  though  not  without  serious  hazards  ; 
however,  I  will  think  the  matter  over,  and  if  you  will  call 
in  to-morrow  you  shall  have  my  answer.  We  are  always 
glad  to  have  a  new  hand  in  the  force,  for  the  faces  of 
our  men  are  so  well  known  among  the  criminal  class  that 


134  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

they  are  liable  to  be  detected  even  under  the  cleverest 
disguises.  There  is  work,  too,  upon  which  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  that  a  gentleman  should  be  employed, 
and  in  the  event  of  your  joining  us,  I  should  wish  you 
to  keep  the  matter  strictly  from  all  your  acquaintances  ; 
and  it  would  certainly  be  advantageous  that  you  should, 
when  disengaged,  continue  to  mix  with  your  friends  and 
to  mingle  in  society  of  all  kinds  as  freely  as  possible. 
There  is  crime  among  the  upper  classes  as  well  as  among 
the  lower,  though  of  a  different  type,  and  as  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke,  of  Crowswood,  you  would  have  far  better  oppor- 
tunities of  investigating  some  of  these  cases  than  any  of 
my  men  would  have.  You  would  not  object  to  take  up 
such  cases  ?' ' 

"  Not  at  all,  sir  ;  that  is,  if  it  could  be  arranged  that 
I  should  not  do  the  actual  arresting  or  have  to  appear  in 
court  as  a  witness." 

"That  could  be  managed,"  the  chief  said.  "When 
you  have  got  to  a  certain  point  the  matter  of  the  final 
arrest  could  always  be  handed  over  to  someone  else,  but, 
as  a  rule,  we  keep  our  officers  in  the  background  as 
much  as  possible,  because  at  every  trial  the  court  is  half- 
full  of  men  of  the  criminal  class,  and  the  faces  of  our 
men  would  soon  be  known  by  every  one  of  them.  Well, 
if  you  will  call  about  ten  o'clock  you  shall  have  my  an- 
swer ;  but  I  should  advise  you  to  think  the  matter  well 
over  before  you  see  me  again.  The  responsibilities  as 
well  as  the  dangers  are  great,  and,  indeed,  through  some 
of  the  work  you  would  literally  have  to  carry  your  life 
in  your  hand,  and  I  can  assure  you  that  the  task  you 
undertake  is  by  no  means  a  light  one." 


CHAPTER    X. 


MARK  called  that  evening,  as  he  had  promised, 
upon  Mrs.  Cunningham. 

"  I  hope  that  you  feel  all  the  better  for  your 
day's  rest,  Millicent,"  he  said. 

The  girl  looked  quickly  at  him  to  see  if  there  was  any 
sarcasm  in  the  question,  but  it  was  evident  that  the  en- 
quiry was  made  in  earnest. 

"  Yes,  I  feel  better  now,"  she  said.  "  I  have  dozed 
a  good  deal  to-day.  I  did  not  feel  up  to  anything. 
Mrs.  Cunningham's  work  has  progressed  wonderfully. 
I  should  say  that  she  has  done  more  to-day  than  she 
ordinarily  finds  time  to  do  in  a  week.  What  have  you 
been  doing  with  yourself?" 

"  I  have  been  having  a  long  talk  with  Mr.  Prendergast 
about  the  lost  treasure." 

"  And,  of  course,  he  said  that  you  would  never  find  it, 
Mark?" 

"Well,  yes.  he  distinctly  expressed  that  opinion." 

"And  afterwards?" 

135 


136  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"Afterwards  I  went  to  Bow  Street  and  had  a  long 
talk  also  with  the  chief  officer  there." 

"  I  don't  like  the  idea  of  your  searching  for  this  man, 
Mark.  In  the  first  place,  I  don't  see  why  you  should 
hope  to  succeed  when  the  men  whose  business  it  is  to 
do  such  work  have  failed.  In  the  next  place,  I  think 
that  you  may  get  into  serious  danger." 

"That  I  must  risk,  Millicent.  I  have  already  proved 
a  better  shot  than  he  is,  and  I  am  quite  ready  to  take 
my  chance  if  I  can  but  come  upon  him  ;  that  is  the  dif- 
ficult part  of  the  matter.  I  know  that  I  shall  need  pa- 
tience, but  I  have  plenty  of  time  before  me,  and  have 
great  hopes  that  I  shall  run  him  to  earth  at  last." 

"  But  you  would  not  know  him  if  you  saw  him  ?" 

"I  think  I  should,"  Mark  said,  quietly;  "at  least  if 
he  is  the  man  I  suspect." 

"Then  you  do  suspect  someone,"  Mrs.  Cunningham 
said,  laying  down  her  work. 

"  Yes.  I  know  of  no  reason  why  you  should  not  know 
it  now.  I  suspect,  indeed,  I  feel  morally  certain,  that  the 
man  who  murdered  my  father  was  Arthur  Bastow." 

An  exclamation  of  surprise  broke  from  both  his  hear- 
ers, and  they  listened  with  horror  while  he  detailed  the 
various  grounds  that  he  had  for  his  suspicions.  They 
were  silent  for  some  time  after  he  had  brought  his  nar- 
rative to  a  conclusion,  then  Mrs.  Cunningham  said, — 

"  What  a  merciful  release  for  Mr.  Bastow  that  he 
should  have  died  before  this  terrible  thing  came  out ! 
For  after  what  you  have  told  us  I  can  hardly  doubt  that 
you  are  right,  and  that  it  is  this  wicked  man  who  is 
guilty." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  137 

"  Yes,  it  was  indeed  providential,"  Mark  said.  "  I 
think  that,  feeble  as  he  had  been  for  some  months,  it 
might  have  been  kept  from  him.  Still,  a  word  from  a 
chance  visitor,  who  did  not  associate  Bastow  the  mur- 
derer with  our  dear  old  friend,  might  have  enlightened 
him,  and  the  blow  would  have  been  a  terrible  one  in- 
deed. It  is  true  that  as  it  was  he  died  from  the  shock, 
but  he  did  not  know  the  hand  that  had  struck  the  blow." 

"  Now  that  you  have  told  me  this,"  Millicent  said,  "  I 
cannot  blame  you,  Mark,  for  determining  to  hunt  the 
man  down.  It  seems  even  worse  than  it  did  before  ;  it 
is  awful  to  think  that  anyone  could  cherish  revenge  like 
that.     Now  tell  me  how  you  are  going  to  set  about  it" 

"  I  have  promised  the  chief  officer  that  I  will  tell  ab- 
solutely no  one,"  he  said.  "I  have  a  plan,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  in  time  it  must  be  successful.  I  know  well 
enough  that  I  could  tell  you  both  of  it  without  any  fear 
of  its  going  farther,  but  he  asked  me  to  promise,  and  I 
did  so  without  reservation  ;  moreover,  I  think  that  for 
some  reasons  it  is  as  well  that  even  you  should  not  know 
it.  As  it  is,  you  are  aware  that  I  am  going  to  try,  and 
that  is  all.  If  I  were  to  tell  you  how,  you  might  be  pic- 
turing all  sorts  of  imaginary  dangers  and  worrying  your- 
selves over  it,  so  I  think  that  it  will  be  much  the  best  that 
you  should  remain  in  ignorance,  at  any  rate,  for  a  time. 
I  can  say  this :  that  I  shall  for  the  present  remain  princi- 
pally in  London,  and  I  think  that  I  am  more  likely  to 
come  upon  a  clue  here  than  elsewhere." 

The  next  morning  the  chief  of  the  detective  depart- 
ment told  Mark  that  he  had  decided  to  accept  his 
offer. 


138  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"As  you  will  receive  no  pay,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  regard 
you  as  a  sort  of  volunteer.  For  the  first  two  or  three 
months  you  will  spend  your  time  in  going  about  with 
one  or  other  of  my  men  on  his  work.  They  will  be 
able  to  put  you  up  to  disguises.  When  you  have  once 
learned  to  know  all  the  thieves'  quarters  and  the  most 
notorious  receivers  of  stolen  goods,  you  will  be  able  to 
go  about  your  work  on  your  own  account.  All  that  I 
require  is  that  you  shall  report  yourself  here  twice  a  day. 
Should  I  have  on  hand  any  business  for  which  you  may 
appear  to  me  particularly  well  suited,  I  shall  request  you 
to  at  once  undertake  it,  and  from  time  to  time,  when 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  business  on  hand,  I  may  get  you 
to  aid  one  of  my  men  who  may  require  an  assistant  in 
the  job  on  which  he  is  engaged." 

"I  am  sure  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  sir," 
Mark  said,  "  and  will,  I  can  assure  you,  do  my  best  in 
every  way  to  assist  your  men  in  any  business  in  which 
they  may  be  engaged." 

"  When  will  you  begin  ?" 

"  It  is  Saturday  to-day,  sir.  I  think  I  will  postpone 
setting  to  until  Monday  week.  My  cousin  and  the 
lady  in  whose  charge  she  is  came  up  with  me  on 
Thursday,  and  will  be  leaving  town  the  end  of  next 
week,  and  I  should  wish  to  escort  them  about  while 
here.  I  will  come  on  Monday  morning  ready  for 
work.     How  had  I  better  be  dressed?" 

"  I  should  say  as  a  countryman.  A  convenient  char- 
acter for  you  to  begin  with  will  be  that  of  a  man  who, 
having  got  into  a  poaching  fray  and  hurt  a  game-keeper, 
has  made  for  London  as  the  best  hiding-place.     You 


THE  BPLAHMINS'   TREASURE  139 

will  be  quite  uncertain  about  your  future  movements, 
but  you  are  thinking  of  enlisting." 

"  Very  well,  sir ;  I  will  get  the  constable  at  Reigate, 
who  knows  me  well,  to  send  me  a  suit  I  might  find  it 
difficult  to  get  all  the  things  I  want  here." 

Accordingly,  for  the  next  week,  Mark  devoted  him- 
self to  the  ladies.  Millicent,  in  her  interest  in  the 
work  that  he  was  about  to  undertake,  had  now  quite 
got  over  her  fit  of  ill-temper,  and  the  old  cordial  rela- 
tions were  renewed.  On  Friday  he  saw  them  into  the 
Weymouth  coach,  then  sauntered  off  to  his  friend  Chet- 
wynd's  lodgings.  Ramoo  had  already  sailed.  On  his 
arrival  in  town  he  had  said  that  he  should,  if  possible, 
arrange  to  go  out  as  a  steward. 

"  Many  men  of  my  colour  who  have  come  over  here 
with  their  masters  go  back  in  that  way,"  he  said,  in 
answer  to  Mark's  remonstrances.  "  It  is  much  more 
comfortable  that  way  than  as  a  passenger.  If  you  go 
third  class,  rough  fellows  laugh  and  mock  ;  if  you  go 
second  class,  men  look  as  much  as  to  say,  'What  is 
that  coloured  fellow  doing  here  ?  This  is  no  place  for 
him.'  Much  better  go  as  steward  ;  not  very  hard  work  ; 
very  comfortable ;  plenty  to  eat ;  no  one  to  laugh  or 
make  fun." 

"  Well,  perhaps  it  would  be  best,  when  one  comes  to 
think  of  it,  Ramoo  ;  but  I  would  gladly  pay  your  pas- 
sage in  any  class  you  like." 

"  Ramoo  go  his  own  way,  sahib,"  he  said.  "  No 
pay  passage  money ;  me  go  to  docks  where  boats  are 
sailing,  go  on  board  and  see  head  steward.  Head 
steward  glad  enough  to  take  good  servant  who  is  will- 


I40  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

ing  to  work  his  way  out,  and  ask  for  no  wages.  Head 
steward  draw  wages  for  him  and  put  wages  in  his  own 
pocket.     He  very  well  satisfied." 

On  Wednesday  he  came  and  told  Mark  that  he  had 
arranged  to  sail  in  the  "  Nabob,"  and  was  to  go  on 
board  early  the  next  morning.  He  seemed  a  great 
deal  affected,  and  Mark  and  Millicent  were  equally 
sorry  to  part  with  the  faithful  fellow. 

"Well,  old  fellow,"  Dick  Chetwynd  said,  when  Mark 
entered  the  room,  where  he  was  still  at  breakfast,  "  1 
was  beginning  to  wonder  whether  you  had  gone  back 
to  Reigate  again.  Why,  when  I  saw  you  last  Friday 
you  told  me  that  you  would  look  me  up  in  a  day  or 
two." 

"  I  have  been  busy  showing  London  to  Mrs.  Cun- 
ningham and  Miss  Conyers,"  he  replied, — for  Millicent 
had  insisted  on  keeping  her  former  name,  at  any  rate 
for  the  present, — and  Mark  was  somewhat  glad  that 
there  had  been  no  necessity  for  entering  into  any  ex- 
planation. It  was  agreed  that  when  he  went  down  to 
discharge  some  of  the  servants  and  called  upon  his 
friends  he  should  say  nothing  of  the  change  in  his 
position,  but  should  assign  as  a  motive  that  he  intended 
to  travel  about  for  a  long  time,  and  that  he  felt  that  he 
could  not  settle  down  in  the  lonely  house,  at  any  rate, 
for  two  or  three  years,  and  therefore  intended  to  dimin- 
ish the  establishment. 

"You  will  have  some  breakfast,  Mark?" 
"No,  thank  you.     I  breakfasted  two  hours  ago." 
"Then  you  still  keep  to  your  intention  to  stay  in 
London  for  a  while  ?" 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  141 

"Yes.  I  don't  feel  that  I  could  bear  the  house 
alone,"  Mark  replied.  "You  see,  Mrs.  Cunningham 
and  my  uncle's  ward  could  not  very  well  remain  in  a 
bachelor's  home,  and  naturally,  after  what  has  happened, 
they  would  not  like  to  do  so  even  if  they  could.  They 
have  gone  down  to  Weymouth  for  a  few  weeks  for  a 
complete  change  ;  and  Mrs.  Cunningham  talks  of  taking 
a  house  in  town  till  they  return  to  Crowswood.  I  am 
going  to  look  for  lodgings,  and  I  want  your  advice  as  to 
the  quarter  likely  to  suit  me." 

"Why  not  take  up  your  abode  here  for  a  time? 
There  is  a  vacant  room,  and  I  should  be  very  glad  to 
have  you  with  me." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,  Dick,  but  for  a  time  I  should 
prefer  being  alone.  You  will  have  friends  dropping  in 
to  see  you,  and  at  present  I  should  be  poor  company. 
It  will  be  some  little  time  before  I  shall  feel  equal  to 
society." 

"  Of  course,  Mark.  I  always  speak  first  and  think 
afterwards,  as  you  know  pretty  well  by  this  time.  Well, 
what  sort  of  lodgings  do  you  want?" 

"  I  want  them  to  be  in  a  good  but  not  in  a  thoroughly 
fashionable  street  In  time,  no  doubt,  I  shall  like  a  little 
society,  and  shall  get  you  to  introduce  me  to  some  of  the 
quieter  of  your  friends,  and  so  gradually  feel  my  way." 

"  I  will  do  all  that  sort  of  thing  for  you,  Mark.  As 
you  know,  I'm  not  one  of  those  who  see  much  fun  in 
gambling  or  drinking,  though  one  must  play  a  little  to 
be  in  the  fashion.  Still,  I  never  go  heavily  into  it.  I 
risk  a  few  guineas  and  then  leave  it.  My  own  inclina- 
tions lie  rather  towards  sport,  and  in  this  I  can  indulge 


142  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

without  being  out  of  the  fashion.  All  the  tip-top  people 
now  patronise  the  ring,  and  I  do  so  in  my  small  way  too. 
I  am  on  good  terms  with  all  the  principal  prize-fighters, 
and  put  on  the  gloves  with  one  or  other  of  them  pretty 
nearly  every  day.  I  have  taken  a  course  of  lessons 
regularly  from  four  or  five  of  them,  and  I  can  tell  you 
that  I  can  hold  my  own  with  most  of  the  Corinthians. 
It  is  a  grand  sport,  and  I  don't  know  how  I  should  get 
on  without  it ;  after  the  hard  exercise  I  was  accustomed 
to  down  in  the  country,  it  keeps  one's  muscles  in  splen- 
did order  ;  and  I  can  tell  you  that,  if  one  happens  to  get 
into  a  fight  in  the  streets,  it  is  no  light  thing  to  be  able 
to  polish  off  an  antagonist  in  a  round  or  two  without 
getting  a  mark  on  your  face  that  would  keep  you  a  pris- 
oner in  your  room  for  a  week  or  more." 

"  Yes,  I  should  like  very  much  to  take  lessons  too, 
Dick  ;  it  is  one  of  the  things  that  I  have  always  wished 
to  do.  I  suppose  one  can  do  it  of  an  evening  or  any 
time  you  like?" 

"  Yes  ;  any  hour  suits  those  fellows.  You  ought  to 
get  either  a  heavy  middle  weight  or  a  light  heavy 
weight ;  you  will  be  a  heavy  weight  yourself  by  the 
time  you  have  filled  out.  Let  me  think  ;  what  is  your 
height? — six  feet  one,  if  I  remember  rightly." 

"Yes,  that  is  about  it" 

"  Well,  with  your  shoulders  and  long  reach  and 
activity,  you  ought  to  be  something  out  of  the  way  if 
you  take  pains,  Mark.  You  see  I  am  barely  five  feet  ten, 
and  am  something  like  two  stone  lighter  than  you  are, 
and  I  only  just  come  into  the  middle  weights.  I  sup- 
pose you  are  not  much  under  twelve  stone  and  a  half." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  143 

"  That  is  just  about  my  weight ;  I  weighed  at  the 
miller's  only  a  fortnight  ago." 

' '  Good  !  I  will  make  some  enquiries,  and  see  who 
would  be  the  best  man  to  take  you  in  hand  to  begin 
with.  And  now  about  lodgings.  Well,  I  should  say 
Essex  Street  or  any  of  those  streets  running  down  from 
the  Strand  would  suit  you.  The.  rooms  in  Essex  Street 
are  bngger  than  those  in  Buckingham  Street,  and  you 
will  find  anything  between  the  two  in  some  of  the 
others  ;  but  I  may  as  well  saunter  round  there  with  you. 
Of  course,  money  is  no  object  to  you." 

"No,"  Mark  agreed,  "but  I  don't  want  big  rooms. 
I  think  a  small  one,  when  you  are  sitting  by  yourself,  is 
more  cosey  and  comfortable." 

Finally,  two  rooms  were  taken  in  Villiers  Street ;  they 
were  of  moderate  size  and  handsomely  furnished,  the 
last  tenant  having  fitted  them  out  for  himself,  but  had 
lived  to  enjoy  them  only  three  months,  having  at  the 
end  of  that  time  been  killed  in  a  duel  over  a  quarrel  at 
cards. 

"  I  have  to  make  some  calls  this  afternoon,  Mark. 
At  seven  this  evening  I  will  look  in  at  your  lodgings, 
and  you  shall  go  along  with  me  to  Ingleston's,  in  St 
Giles's.  It  is  one  of  the  head-quarters  of  the  fancy, 
and  Jack  Needham,  who  taught  me,  is  safe  to  be  there, 
and  he  will  tell  me  who  he  thinks  is  best  for  you  to 
begin  with." 

Accordingly,  after  taking  luncheon,  they  separated, 
and  Mark  went  to  his  inn. 

Ingleston's  was  at  that  time  regarded  as  the  head- 
quarters of  the  fancy.     At  the  back  of  the  house  was 


144  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

a  large  room,  with  benches  rising  behind  each  other  to 
accommodate  the  spectators.  Here,  on  the  evenings 
when  it  was  known  that  leading  men  would  put  on  the 
gloves,  peers  of  the  realm  would  sit  side  by  side  with 
sporting  butchers,  and  men  of  fashion  back  their  opinion 
on  a  coming  prize  fight  with  ex-pugilists  and  publicans. 
A  number  of  men  were  assembled  in  the  bar ;  among 
these  was  Jack  Needham. 

"  Good  evening,  Mr.  Chetwynd,"  the  man  said,  as 
they  came  up  to  him.  "  It  is  going  to  be  a  good  night. 
Tring  and  Bob  Pratt  are  going  to  have  a  round  or  two 
together,  and  Gibbons  will  put  on  the  gloves  with  any- 
one who  likes  to  take  him  on." 

"This  gentleman  is  Mr.  Thorndyke,  a  squire,  Jack, 
whose  place  is  near  mine  at  Reigate.  He  has  come  up 
to  town  for  a  few  months,  and  wants  to  learn  how  to 
use  his  mauleys.  I  told  him  that  you  would  advise 
him  as  to  who  would  be  the  best  man  for  him  to  go  to." 

"  I  can  tell  you  better  when  I  have  seen  him  strip,  sir. 
There  is  no  one  in  the  big  room  at  present.  It  won't  be 
open  for  half  an  hour.  Ingleston  keeps  it  shut  as  long 
as  he  can  so  as  to  give  everyone  a  fair  chance  of  a  good 
place.  If  the  gentleman  will  come  in  there  with  me  I 
will  have  a  look  at  him." 

Mark  expressed  his  willingness  to  be  looked  at,  and 
the  man  having  gone  and  got  the  key  of  the  room  from 
Ingleston,  went  in  with  them  and  locked  the  door  be- 
hind. 

"  Now,  sir,  if  you  will  strip  to  the  waist  I  shall  be 
better  able  to  say  who  you  had  better  have  than  I  can 
now." 


Mark  stripped,  and  the  inuu  vsaiKcd  aiouuJ  him  critically. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  145 

Mark  stripped,  and  the  man  walked  round  and  round 
him,  examining  him  critically. 

"  He's  a  big  'un,"  he  said  to  Dick  when  he  had  com- 
pleted his  examination.  "  He  has  got  plenty  of  muscle 
and  frame,  and  ought  to  be  a  tremendous  hitter ;  he  is 
about  the  figure  of  Gibbons,  and  if  he  goes  in  for  it 
really,  ought  to  make  well-nigh  as  good  a  man,  if  not 
quite.  I  don't  think  Bill  would  care  about  taking  him 
up  till  he  knows  a  bit  about  it.  I  tell  you  what,  sir, 
you  will  be  too  big  altogether  for  me  by  the  time  you 
get  to  be  quick  on  your  legs  and  to  use  your  strength, 
but  if  you  like  I  will  take  you  on  for  a  month  or  so,  or, 
say,  two  months ;  by  that  time  I  think  you  will  be  good 
enough  to  go  to  Gibbons.  I  will  just  call  him  in  if  you 
don't  mind  ;  he  came  in  just  before  you." 

In  a  couple  of  minutes  he  came  in  with  a  man  of 
similar  height  and  somewhat  similar  figure  to  Mark. 

"This  is  Gibbons,  sir,  ex-champion,  and  like  enough 
he  might  be  champion  now  if  he  chose ;  as  fine  a  boxer 
as  ever  stripped,  but  he  is  ring-maker  now  to  the  R  C, 
and  it  suits  him  better  to  do  that  and  to  teach,  than 
to  have  a  chance  of  getting  a  battle  once  a  year  or  so." 
"  Have  you  a  great  many  pupils,  Gibbons  ?" 
The  man  shook  his  head. 

"  I  am  too  big,  sir  ;  gentleman  like  to  learn  from  some 
one  about  their  own  weight,  or  perhaps  a  bit  lighter,  and 
there  are  not  many  of  them  who  would  care  to  stand  up 
against  a  man  who  has  been  champion,  and  so  I  have 
plenty  of  time  on  my  hands.  I  am  a  hard  hitter,  too,  even 
with  the  gloves  ;  that  is  one  reason  why  Jack  had  best  take 
you  on  until  you  get  a  little  handy  with  your  fists.     I  do 


146  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

more  in  the  dog  fancier  line  than  I  do  with  boxing,  but 
there  is  nothing  I  Hke  better  than  getting  the  gloves  on 
with  an  amateur  who  is  likely  to  be  a  credit  to  me. 
That  is  my  card,  sir ;  you  will  find  me  in  pretty  nearly 
any  time  of  the  day,  and  I  have  got  a  place  behind  the 
house  where  I  do  teaching  when  I  get  a  chance.  It  is 
handy  in  one  way,  because  you  can  drop  in  and  take  a 
lesson  any  time  you  like." 

"That  would  suit  me  exceedingly  well,"  Mark  said  ; 
"  and  when  I  have  a  couple  of  months  with  Needham  I 
will  come  to  you." 

Mark  now  put  on  his  clothes  again,  and  they  went  out 
together  and  re-entered  a  few  minutes  later  when  the 
door  was  open.  The  benches  were  soon  crowded. 
Mark  had  been  to  several  prize-fights  with  Dick  Chet- 
wynd,  had  often  boxed  with  him  and  other  lads,  and  had 
had  lessons  from  an  ex-prize-fighter  at  Reigate,  and  was 
therefore  able  to  appreciate  the  science  shown  by  the 
various  men  who  confronted  each  other.  The  event  of 
the  evening  was  the  contest  between  Tring  and  Bob 
Pratt ;  both  were  very  powerful  men,  who  were  about  to 
go  into  strict  training  for  matches  that  had  been  made 
for  them  against  two  west  countrymen,  who  were  thought 
very  highly  of  by  their  friends,  and  who  were  regarded 
as  possible  candidates  for  the  championship. 

Bob  Pratt  was  a  stone  heavier  than  his  opponent,  but 
far  less  active,  and  owed  his  position  more  to  his  ability 
to  take  punishment,  and  to  hard-hitting  powers,  than  to 
his  science.  In  the  two  rounds  that  were  fought,  Tring 
had  the  advantage,  but  the  general  opinion  was  that  in 
the  long  run  the  other  would  wear  him  down.     Both 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  147 

fought  with  good  temper,  and  were  warmly  applauded 
as  they  shook  hands  at  the  finish. 

"  I  think  I  should  back  Tring  in  a  fight,"  Mark  said, 
as  the  meeting  broke  up,  "  but  it  is  difficult  to  say,  for 
he  is  in  better  condition  than  the  other,  and  it  may  be 
that  when  both  are  thoroughly  fit  the  heavy  man  might 
show  more  improvement  than  he  would." 

The  hat  was  passed  round  at  the  conclusion.  Every 
man  dropped  in  his  guinea,  some  more,  it  being  under- 
stood that  the  collection  was  to  be  divided  between  the 
two  men  to  pay  the  expenses  of  their  training. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THREE  or  four  days  later  Mark  received  a  message 
that  the  chief  wanted  to  speak  with  him  that  after- 
noon, and  he  accordingly  went  down. 
"I've  got  a  job  for  you,  Mr.  Thorndyke  ;  it  is  just  the 
sort  of  thing  that  will  suit  you.  There  is  a  house  in 
Buckingham  Street  that  we  have  had  our  eye  on  for 
some  time  ;  it  is  a  gambling-house,  but  with  that  we 
have  nothing  to  do  unless  complaints  are  made,  but  we 
have  had  several  complaints  of  late.  It  is  a  well-got-up 
place,  and  there  are  a  good  many  men  of  title  frequent 
it,  but  men  of  title  are  not  always  more  honest  than 
other  people  ;  anyhow,  there  are  some  rooks  there,  and 
several  young  fellows  of  means  have  been  pigeoned  and 
ruined.  They  are  mighty  particular  who  they  let  in, 
and  there  would  be  very  little  chance  of  getting  my  reg- 
ular men  in  there.  Now,  you  are  a  stranger  in  London, 
but  you  have  friends  here,  and  no  doubt  you  could  get 
introduced.  We  want  to  know  if  the  play  is  fair  ;  if  it 
isn't,  we  would  break  the  place  up  altogether.  We 
148 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  149 

know  enough  to  do  it  now  ;  but  none  of  the  poor  beg- 
gars who  have  been  ruined  will  come  forward,  and,  in- 
deed, haven't  any  idea,  I  think,  that  they  have  lost  their 
money  in  anything  but  a  run  of  bad  luck. 

"  One  young  fellow  blew  his  brains  out  last  week,  and 
his  father  came  here  with  a  lot  of  what  are  called  debts 
of  honour,  which  he  found  in  his  room.  There  they  are, 
and  the  names  of  the  men  they  are  owed  to ;  of  course, 
some  of  them  have  been  fairly  won,  but  I  have  a  strong 
suspicion  that  those  I  have  marked  with  a  cross  have 
not.  For  instance,  there  is  Sir  William  Flash,  a  fellow 
who  was  turned  out  of  White's  two  years  ago  for  sharp 
practice  with  cards  ;  there  is  John  Emerson :  he  is  a  man 
of  good  family,  but  all  his  friends  have  given  him  up 
long  ago,  and  he  has  been  living  by  his  wits  for  the  last 
five  years.  The  others  marked  are  all  of  the  same  sort 
Now,  what  I  want  you  to  do  is  to  become  a  frequenter 
of  the  place  ;  of  course,  you  will  have  to  play  a  little, 
and  as  you  are  a  stranger  I  expect  that  they  will  let  you 
win  for  ja.  bit ;  but  if  not,  the  old  gentleman  has  placed 
;^200  in  my  hands  for  the  expenses." 

"  I  could  play  on  my  own  money,"  Mark  said,  rather 
warmly. 

"You  forget,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  chief  said,  firmly, 
"  that  at  the  present  moment  you  are  a  member  of  my 
force,  and  that  you  go  to  this  place  in  that  capacity,  and 
not  as  Squire  of  Crowswood  ;  therefore,  you  must,  if 
you  please,  do  as  I  instruct  you.  The  gentleman  will 
be  ready  to  pay  that  sum.  As  you  see,  the  amounts 
entered  here  total  up  to  nearly  ^10,000.  He  said  that 
it  will  ruin  him  to  pay  that  sum,  but  that  he  must  do  so 


ISO  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

rather  than  his  son  should  be  branded  as  a  defaulter.  I 
have  advised  him  to  write  to  all  these  people  saying  that 
it  will  take  him  some  time  to  raise  the  money,  but  that 
he  will  see  that  nobody  shall  be  a  loser  by  his  son's 
debts.  I  have  told  him  that  I  will  in  the  meantime 
endeavour  to  get  proof  that  the  play  was  not  fair,  and 
in  that  case  he  would,  of  course,  refuse  to  pay  any  of 
the  claims  on  that  ground  ;  and  you  may  be  sure  that  if 
unfair  play  were  proved,  none  of  those  concerned  would 
dare  to  press  their  claims." 

"Then  my  function  would  be  simply  to  watch  ?" 

"Yes,  to  watch,  and  to  bring  me  word  of  anything 
you  may  observe.  You  see,  without  making  a  public 
scandal,  if  it  could  be  found  that  a  man  was  discovered 
cheating,  and  the  way  in  which  he  was  doing  it,  one 
would  be  able  to  put  a  stronger  pressure  on  him,  that 
not  only  might  he  be  forced  to  abstain  from  going  to 
any  club,  but  would  be  frightened  into  giving  up  any 
I.O.U.'s  he  might  hold." 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  do  the  best  I  can,  sir ;  but, 
frankly,  I  know  next  to  nothing  of  cards,  and  should 
have  but  little  chance  of  detecting  anything  that  might 
be  going  on,  when  it  must  be  done  so  cleverly  that 
experienced  gamblers,  watching  a  man  closely,  fail  to 
see  anything  wrong." 

"  I  quite  understand  that,  but  one  of  my  men  has 
made  a  study  of  the  various  methods  employed  by 
gamblers  to  cheat,  and  although  it  would  take  you 
years  to  learn  how  to  do  it  yourself,  a  few  hours'  instruc- 
tion from  him  would  at  least  put  you  up  to  some  of  their 
methods,  and  enable  you  to  know  where  to  look  for 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  151 

cheating.  The  man  is  now  waiting  in  the  next  room, 
and  if  you  will  take  two  or  three  hours  daily  with  him, 
say  for  a  week,  you  ought  to  be  able  to  detect  the 
doings  of  those  fellows  when  to  others  everything  seems 
right  and  above  board.  You  may  have  no  inclination 
for  cards,  but  knowledge  of  that  sort  is  useful  to  any- 
one in  society,  here  or  anywhere  else,  and  may  enable 
him  either  to  save  his  own  pocket  or  to  do  a  service  to 
a  friend." 

In  the  course  of  a  week's  practice  Mark  learned  where 
to  look  for  cheating ;  he  could  not,  indeed,  follow  the 
fingers  of  his  instructor,  for  even  when  he  knew  what 
was  going  to  be  done,  the  movements  were  so  rapid 
that  his  eye  could  not  follow  it,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of 
ten  he  was  unable  to  say  whether  the  coup  had  been 
accomplished  or  not. 

The  week's  instruction  was  lengthened  to  a  fort- 
night, and  at  the  end  of  that  time  Mark  went  to  Dick 
Chetwynd. 

"Do  you  know,  Dick,"  he  said,  "a  gambling-place 
in  Buckingham  Street?" 

"  I  know  that  there  is  a  hell  there,  Mark,  but  I  have 
never  been  in  it ;  why  do  you  ask?" 

"  I  have  rather  a  fancy  to  go  there,"  he  replied.  "  I 
hear  that  although  a  good  many  men  of  fashion  haunt 
the  place,  the  crowd  is  rather  a  mixed  one." 

"  It  has  a  bad  name,  Mark ;  I  have  heard  some  queer 
reports  about  it." 

"Yes,  so  have  I.  I  should  •think  that  it  is  a  very 
likely  place  for  a  man  like  Bastow  to  go  to  if  he  has 
any  liking  for  play.     Of  course,  he  would  get  up  as  a 


152  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

gentleman.  At  any  rate,  I  have  been  making  what  en- 
quiries I  can  in  some  of  the  thieves'  quarters,  and  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  is  not  likely  to  have 
taken  up  his  abode  there,  and  I  don't  think  I  can  do 
better  than  make  a  round  of  some  of  these  doubtful 
houses.  I  should  like  to  begin  with  this  and  then  work 
downward." 

"  Well,  I  daresay  I  could  manage  it,  Mark  ;  I  know 
half  a  dozen  men  who  play  there  ;  they  say  there  is 
more  fun  and  excitement  to  be  got  than  at  White's  or 
Crockford's,  or  any  of  those  places ;  some  men,  of 
course,  play  high,  but  a  good  many  who  go  there  only 
risk  a  few  guineas  ;  some  go  because  it  is  the  proper 
thing  at  present  for  a  man  about  town  either  to  play  or 
to  bet  on  horses  or  cock-fights,  or  to  patronise  the  ring, 
and,  after  all,  it  is  easier  to  stroll  for  an  hour  or  two  of 
an  evening  into  comfortable  rooms  where  you  meet  a 
lively  set  and  there  is  champagne  always  going,  than  it 
is  to  attend  races  or  prize-fights." 

There  were  few  days  that  passed  that  Mark  did 
not  go  in  for  half  an  hour's  chat  with  his  friend,  and 
two  days  after  this  conversation  Dick  said, — 

"  By  the  way,  Mark,  I  have  arranged  for  us  to  go  to 
that  hell  to-night ;  young  Boldero,  who  is  a  member  of 
my  club,  told  me  some  time  ago  that  he  played  there 
sometimes.  I  met  him  yesterday  evening,  and  said  that 
I  had  a  fancy  to  go  and  have  a  look  at  it,  and  that  a 
friend  of  mine  from  the  country  also  wanted  to  go  ;  he 
said  at  once  that  he  would  take  us  there." 

Accordingly,  that  evening  Mark  met  Boldero,  whom 
he  had  once  or  twice  before  seen  in  Dick's  company. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  153 

and  the  three  went  together  to  the  house  in  Bucking- 
ham Street.  Boldero  nodded  to  the  door-keeper  as  he 
went  in,  and  they  then  proceeded  upstairs  and  entered 
a  handsome  room  with  comfortable  sofas  and  chairs  on 
which  a  dozen  men  were  seated,  for  the  most  part 
smoking.  Several  champagne  bottles  stood  on  the 
tables,  and  all  who  liked  helped  themselves.  Boldero 
was  known  to  several  of  those  present,  while  two  or 
three  were  also  known  to  Dick.  Boldero  introduced 
them  both  to  his  friends.  One  of  these  was  the  Hon. 
John  Emerson,  a  man  of  some  five  and  thirty,  with  a 
lanquid  air  and  a  slight  drawl. 

After  chatting  for  a  few  minutes  Mark  went  with  his 
two  companions  upstairs.  The  room  they  now  entered 
was  furnished  as  a  drawing-room,  except  that  in  the 
middle  was  a  table,  round  which  some  fifteen  people 
were  seated,  while  as  many  more  looked  on  ;  round  the 
room  were  several  small  tables  on  which  were  packs  of 
cards.  These  were  for  those  who  preferred  to  play 
piquet  or  ecarte,  two  or  three  couples  being  so  engaged. 
Mark  knew  enough  of  cards  to  know  that  hazard  was 
being  played  at  the  large  table.  There  was  an  inner 
room,  and  Mark  strolled  across  and  looked  in.  It  was 
at  present  untenanted ;  it  contained  a  centre-table 
capable  of  accommodating  four,  and  two  or  three  small 
ones,  with  two  chairs  set  in  readiness  to  each. 

"That  is  where  the  heavy  play  goes  on,"  Boldero 
said  ;  "  none  of  your  four-  or  five-guinea  wagers  there, 
fifties  and  hundreds  are  nearer  the  mark,  and  I  have 
seen  a  thousand  wagered  many  a  time.  It  is  exciting 
work  even  looking  on,  I  can  tell  you  ;  what  it  must  be 


154  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

for  the  players  I  cannot  say,  but  I  should  think  it  must 
be  frightful." 

Mark  took  up  his  stand  at  the  hazard  table,  and 
after  looking  on  for  some  little  time  began  to  play. 
Beginning  with  guineas  he  gradually,  as  luck  favoured 
him,  played  five  guineas,  and  after  half  an  hour's  play 
won  fifty.  Then  luck  turned,  and  in  a  few  minutes  he 
had  lost  all  he  won. 

"  You  ought  to  have  stopped,  Mark,"  Dick  said, 
reproachfully,  as  he  stepped  back  from  his  place,  which 
was  at  once  filled  by  one  who  had  been  standing  behind 
him. 

The  play  in  the  inner  room  had  now  begun,  and 
Mark  went  in  and  joined  those  who  were  looking  on. 
In  half  an  hour  one  of  the  players  had  had  enough, 
and  a  young  man  said  to  Emerson,  who  was  standing 
on  the  other  side  of  the  table, — 

"Now,  Mr.  Emerson,  will  you  give  me  my  revenge?" 

"  I  would  really  rather  not,  Mr.  Cotter.  The  luck 
has  been  so  one-sided  lately  that  I  would  rather  leave 
it  alone." 

"But  it  may  turn  to-night,"  the  other  said.  "At 
any  rate,  I  will  try  it  if  you  have  no  objection." 

There  was  a  certain  eagerness  in  the  young  man's 
voice  that  caused  Mark  to  watch  him  closely.  He  was 
a  good-looking  young  fellow,  but  his  face  was  not  a 
strong  one,  and  although  he  evidently  tried  to  assume 
an  appearance  of  indifference  as  he  sat  down,  there  was 
a  nervous  movement  of  his  fingers.  Mark  took  his 
place  behind  him  as  play  began.  The  game  was  ecarte, 
and  for  a  time  Emerson  lost. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  155 

"  I  think  the  luck  has  changed,  Mr.  Cotter,  but  as  we 
generally  raise  the  stakes  after  playing  for  a  bit,  I  am 
ready  to  do  so.     Shall  we  make  it  ;^50  again?" 

"  With  pleasure,"  the  young  man  said. 

He  won  the  next  two  games,  then  for  some  time  they 
won  alternately. 

"Shall  we  say  a  hundred  again  ?"  he  said. 

"As  you  like,"  Emerson  replied.  "We  don't  seem 
to  get  much  forwarder  either  way  at  present." 

A  considerable  number  of  lookers-on  had  now  gath- 
ered round.  So  far  Mark,  although  watching  the  fingers 
of  the  opposite  player  intently,  had  seen  no  sign  what- 
ever of  unfair  play.  He  now  redoubled  his  attention. 
Cotter  won  the  first  game,  his  adversary  the  three  next 
Mark  noticed  now  that  after  looking  at  his  hand  Emer- 
son looked  abstractedly  as  if  meditating  before  taking 
the  next  step  ;  there  was  no  expression  in  his  face,  but 
Mark  fancied  that  his  eyes  rested  for  a  moment  on  the 
man  standing  next  to  himself  He  looked  at  his  watch, 
and  then,  as  if  finding  the  hour  later  than  he  had  ex- 
pected, moved  away  from  his  place  and  presently  joined 
Dick,  who  was  standing  with  Boldero  on  the  other  side 
of  the  table. 

"Who  is  the  man  playing  with  Emerson?''  he  asked, 
in  a  whisper. 

"  He  is  the  son  of  Cotter,  the  head  of  Cotter's  Bank, 
in  Lombard  Street" 

As  the  men  were  standing  two  or  three  deep  round 
the  table,  Mark  could  not  see  the  table  itself,  but  this 
mattered  little,  for  his  attention  was  entirely  directed 
towards  the  man  standing  behind  Cotter's  chair.     He 


156  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

saw  that  after  glancing  down  at  the  young  man's  hand, 
he  looked  across  as  if  seeing  what  Emerson  was  going  to 
do  ;  sometimes  his  eyes  dropped  for  an  instant,  at  other 
times  there  was  no  such  movement,  and  after  noticing 
this  four  or  five  times,  and  noticing  the  course  Emerson 
took,  he  had  no  doubt  whatever  in  his  own  mind  that 
the  movement  of  the  man's  eyes  was  an  intimation  to 
Emerson  of  the  nature  of  Cotter's  hand.  The  young 
man  had  lost  four  games  in  succession  ;  he  had  grown 
very  pale,  but  showed  no  other  signs  of  agitation.  Pres- 
ently he  said, — 

"  You  have  your  usual  luck  again  ;  I  will  only  play 
one  more  game  to-night,  but  we  may  as  well  make  it 
worth  playing.     Shall  we  say  five  hundred  ?" 

"At  your  service,"  Emerson  replied. 

This  time  the  face  of  the  man  standing  behind  Cotter's 
chair  was  immovable,  and  Mark,  placing  himself  behind 
a  short  man  and  straining  his  head  forward,  saw  that 
Cotter  scored  four.  The  next  time  there  was  still  no 
sign.  Emerson  showed  a  king  and  scored  it,  and  then 
won  every  trick  and  the  game. 

"That  makes  ;^900,"  the  young  man  said,  quietly, 
writing  an  I.O.U.  for  that  amount  and  handing  it  to 
Emerson.  There  was  a  general  movement  of  the  spec- 
tators, and  two  fresh  players  took  the  seats  vacated  by 
the  late  antagonists. 

"Who  was  the  man  standing  behind  Cotter's  chair?" 
Mark  asked  Boldero. 

"That  is  Sir  James  Flash  ;  he  is  just  going  to  play, 
you  see  ;  it  is  sure  to  be  another  hot  game,  and  an  in- 
teresting one." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  157 

"  Well,  I  think  I  will  go,"  Mark  said  ;  "  the  heat  of 
the  room  has  given  me  a  bit  of  a  headache.  I  will  see 
you  to-morrow,  Dick." 

"Good-night  old  man,"  Chetwynd  said,  and,  shaking 
hands  with  Boldero,  Mark  went  downstairs  immediately- 
after  Cotter.  The  latter  went  into  the  room  below, 
drank  off  a  tumbler  of  champagne,  and  then  went  down, 
took  his  hat,  and  went  out.  Mark  followed  him  for  a 
short  distance,  and  joined  him  as  soon  as  he  got  up 
into  the  Strand. 

•'  Mr.  Cotter,"  he  said,  "  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  you  personally,  and  I  must  introduce  myself 
My  name  is  Mark  Thorndyke,  and  I  am  the  owner  of  an 
estate  close  to  Reigate  ;  would  you  mind  my  exchanging 
a  few  words  with  you  ?" 

Cotter  looked  up,  and  was  about  to  give  a  flat  refusal, 
but  the  expression  of  Mark's  face  was  so  friendly  and 
pleasant  that  he  changed  his  mind  and  said,  in  a  hard 
voice, — 

"  I  really  do  not  know  what  you  can  have  to  say  to 
me,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  but  of  course  I  can  hardly  refuse 
to  hear  you." 

They  walked  across  the  road  and  turned  up  a  quiet 
street 

"  For  certain  reasons  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  ex- 
plain," Mark  said.  "  I  went  to  that  place  for  the  first 
time  to-night,  and  I  watched  the  play  between  you  and 
Mr.  Emerson." 

"  It  does  not  matter,  sir.  I  lost,  and  I  am  not  going 
there  again." 

"  I  hope,  on  the  contrary,  that  you  will  go  there  again, 


158  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

Mr.  Cotter ;  if  I  mistake  not,  from  what  I  heard,  you 
have  lost  considerable  sums  to  that  man." 

"  I  imagine,  sir,  that  that  is  no  business  of  a  stranger." 

"  In  no  way  personally,"  Mark  replied,  not  heeding 
the  angry  ring  in  the  voice,  "  but  as  an  honest  man  it 
does  concern  me.  I  am  absolutely  convinced,  sir,  that 
that  money  has  not  been  won  from  you  fairly." 

The  young  man  gave  a  start. 

"  Impossible,"  he  said,  shortly.  "  Mr.  Emerson  is  a 
man  of  good  family  and  a  gentleman." 

"  He  is  a  man  of  good  family,  I  admit,  but  certainly 
not  a  gentleman  ;  his  antecedents  are  notorious." 

"  I  have  never  heard  a  word  against  him ;  he  is 
intimate  with  Sir  James  Flash  and  other  gentlemen  of 
position." 

"  I  am  not  surprised  that  you  have  not  heard  of  it ;  it 
was  probably  to  the  interest  of  several  persons  that  you 
should  not  do  so.  Nor  do  I  suppose  that  you  are  aware 
that  Sir  James  Flash  was  himself  expelled  from  White's 
for  cheating  at  cards." 

"  Impossible  !"   Mr.  Cotter  replied. 

"I  can  assure  you  of  the  fact,"  Mark  said,  quietly. 
"  Probably  you  have  among  your  acquaintances  some 
members  of  White's.  I  am  sure  if  you  ask  them  they 
will  confirm  the  fact.  Now,  sir,  I  can  assure  you  that  I 
have  no  interest  in  this  matter  save  to  prevent  a  gentle- 
man from  being  ruined  by  blacklegs.  May  I  ask  how 
much  you  owe  to  Mr.  Emerson  and  Sir  James  Flash  ?" 

The  young  man  hesitated. 

"  I  believe  you,  sir,"  he  said,  at  last.  "  They  hold  my 
I.O.U.'s  for  ;^29,ooo.     I  need  hardly  say  it  is  absolute 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  159 

ruin.  My  intention  is  to  make  a  clean  breast  to  my 
father  about  it  to-morrow  morning.  My  father  will  give 
me  the  money,  in  the  first  place,  because  he  loves  me, 
and  would  save  my  name  from  disgrace  ;  and,  in  the 
second,  because  were  I  posted  as  a  defaulter  it  would 
strike  a  severe  blow  at  the  credit  of  the  bank.  So  he 
will  give  me  the  money,  but  he  will  bid  me  leave  his 
house  for  ever.  That  will  matter  little,  for  I  shall  pay 
the  money  and  to-morrow  night  I  shall  blow  out  my 
brains." 

"Well,  sir,  if  you  will  follow  my  advice  you  will 
neither  pay  the  money  nor  blow  out  your  brains.  I 
saw  enough  to-night  to  feel  absolutely  certain  that  you 
have  been  cheated.  Sir  James  Flash  stood  behind  you, 
and  was,  I  am  sure,  signalling  your  hand  to  Emerson. 
I  believe  that  Emerson  played  fair  otherwise  until  the 
last  game,  but  I  am  convinced  that  he  then  cheated. 
You  had  good  hands,  but  he  had  better ;  and  although 
I  did  not  see  him  cheat — for  I  was  on  the  other  side  of 
the  table — I  am  convinced  that  he  did  so.  Now,  sir,  I 
advise  you  to  go  in  as  usual  to-morrow  evening,  and  to 
play,  raising  your  stakes  as  you  did  to-night  When 
the  time  comes  I  will  expose  him.  Should  I  not  be 
able  to  detect  him,  we  must  try  another  night  I  am  so 
much  convinced  that  this  is  the  case,  and  that  I  shall 
succeed,  that,  whether  you  play  one  night  or  three,  I 
will  guarantee  that  you  shall  be  no  loser,  but  will,  on  the 
honour  of  a  gentleman,  place  in  your  hands  the  amount 
of  your  losses  ;  so  that  you  will  not  have  to  ask  your 
father  for  a  cheque  larger  than  you  would  do  if  you 
confessed  to  him  to-morrow  morning.     I  only  ask  in  re- 


l6o  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

turn  that  you,  on  your  part,  will  give  me  your  word  of 
honour  that  you  will  never  touch  a  card  again." 

"  I  cannot  accept  so  generous  an  offer  from  a  stranger," 
Cotter  said,  in  a  low  voice. 

"  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  generous,"  Mark  replied, 
quietly,  "  because  I  am  perfectly  convinced  that  I  shall 
not  have  to  pay  at  all.  Have  you  any  other  I.O.U.'s 
out  ?" 

"  I  have  given  them  for  about  ;^5000,  but  that  is  not 
in  addition  to  the  jC2g,ooo.  Emerson  told  me  that  as 
he  knew  that  I  should  have  difficulty  in  paying  them  at 
the  present  moment,  he  had  taken  them  up  and  held 
them  with  his  own." 

"  Will  you  give  me  the  names  of  the  persons  to  whom 
you  gave  them  in  the  first  place  ?" 

"  Certainly."  And  he  mentioned  three  names,  all  of 
which  stood  with  a  black  cross  against  them  on  Mark's 
list. 

"Thank  you.  Then  you  will  go  to-morrow  night 
again  ?' ' 

"  Yes,  and  I  swear  to  you  that  I  will  never  touch  a 
card  afterwards." 

"  I  don't  think  that  you  need  fear,"  Mark  said.  "  I 
have  not  been  long  in  London,  but  I  happen  to  have 
been  shown  a  good  many  of  the  tricks  that  these  black- 
legs play  on  greenhorns,  which  will  account  for  my 
having  noticed  what  has  never  been  observed  by  the 
honest  portion  of  the  men  who  frequent  the  place.  Now 
I  will  say  good-night,  sir  I  shall  be  behind  your  chair 
or  his  to-morrow  night." 

"I  don't  know  what  to  say,"  Cotter  .said,  hesitatingly. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  i6i 

"  There  is  no  occasion  to  say  anything  ;  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  honest  man  to  interfere  if  he  sees  another  honest 
man  being  robbed,  and  that  is  my  sole  object  in  this 
matter.  Good-night."  And  turning  round  he  walked 
rapidly  away. 


II 


CHAPTER   XII. 


THE  next  morning,  before  going  round  to  Gibbons, 
Mark  saw  his  chief,  and  told  him  of  what  had 
taken  place  on  the  previous  evening. 

Mark  then  went  to  Chetwynd. 

"Well,  what  did  you  think  of  it  last  night?" 

"  Well,  I  own  that  it  went  against  my  grain  to  see 
that  young  fellow  being  victimised  by  a  sharper." 

"  My  dear  Mark,  you  must  not  use  such  language  as 
that  I  fancy  from  what  I  have  heard  that  the  Honour- 
able John  is  not  altogether  an  estimable  character,  but 
to  call  him  a  sharper  is  going  too  far  altogether." 

"  I  don't  think  that  it  is,  for  from  what  I  saw  last  night 
I  am  pretty  well  convinced  that  he  did  not  play  fair.  I 
mean  to  go  again  to-night." 

"Well,  I  will  go,  Mark.  I  need  not  ask  Boldero, 
for  he  told  me  that  he  should  look  in  again  at  ten 
o'clock  this  evening,  for  he  thought  that  another  night's 
play  would  probably  bring  Cotter  to  the  end  of  his 
tether." 
162 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  163 

Accordingly,  a  little  before  ten  they  walked  into  the 
gambling-house  together. 

Soon  after  ten  Cotter  and  Emerson  again  sat  down, 
and  as  usual  a  lot  of  spectators  gathered  round  the  table. 
The  game  resembled  the  one  on  the  previous  evening. 
Mark  placed  himself  by  the  side  of  Cotter,  a  stranger 
stood  immediately  behind  his  chair,  another  member  of 
the  club  was  on  the  other  side,  and  Sir  James  Flash 
stood  partly  behind  him,  so  that,  although  somewhat  in 
the  background,  he  could  obtain  a  view  between  their 
heads  of  Cotter's  cards.  Mark  saw  to  his  satisfaction 
that  Dick  and  Boldero  had  secured  the  exact  position 
that  he  wished  them  to  take.  For  the  first  few  games 
the  play  was  even,  and  Dick  began  to  think  that  Mark 
had  been  mistaken,  for  Flash  appeared  to  take  little 
interest  in  the  game,  and  made  no  sign  how  Emerson 
should  proceed. 

As  soon  as  the  stake  rose  to  a  hundred  again,  he  dis- 
tinctly saw  Flash  close  his  eyes  and  play  with  his  mous- 
tache ;  he  called  Boldero's  attention  to  the  fact,  and 
found  the  latter,  who  had  also  been  watching,  had 
noticed  it.  By  the  time  a  few  games  had  been  played, 
he  verified  Mark's  assertion  that  these  signs  were  signals 
that  Cotter's  hand  was  a  bad  one,  and  in  each  case 
Emerson  played  without  giving  his  opponent  the  oppor- 
tunity of  discarding  and  taking  in  fresh  cards.  He  and 
Dick  nodded  quietly  to  Mark,  who  had  satisfied  himself 
that  so  far  Emerson  had  not  cheated  in  any  other  way. 
As  on  the  previous  evening,  Cotter,  after  losing  five  or 
six  hundred  pounds,  proposed  a  final  game  of  five  hun- 
dred.    Mark  bent  down  his  head,  so  that  the  intentness 


i64  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

of  his  gaze  should  not  be  noticed,  but  from  under  his 
eyebrows  he  watched  Emerson's  every  movement ;  sud- 
denly he  placed  a  foot  on  the  edge  of  the  chair  of  the 
man  sitting  in  front  of  him,  and  with  a  sudden  spring 
leapt  upon  the  table,  seized  Emerson's  hand,  and  held 
it  up  to  the  full  length  of  his  arm. 

"Gentlemen,"  he  shouted,  "this  fellow  is  cheating; 
there  is  a  card  in  his  hand  which  he  has  just  brought 
from  under  the  table." 

In  a  moment  there  was  a  dead  silence  of  surprise  : 
then  Mark  forced  the  hand  open  and  took  Emerson's 
card,  which  he  held  up. 

"  There,  you  see,  gentlemen,  it  is  a  king."  Then  a 
babel  of  sounds  arose,  a  dozen  hands  were  laid  upon 
Emerson,  who  was  pulled  back  from  his  chair  and 
thrown  down  on  a  sofa,  while  hands  were  run  over  his 
coat,  waistcoat,  and  breeches. 

"Here  they  are,"  a  man  shouted,  and  held  a  dozen 
cards  over  his  head. 

The  place  of  concealment  had  been  cleverly  chosen  : 
the  breeches  apparently  buttoned  closely  at  the  knee, 
but  in  reality  they  were  loose  enough  to  enable  a  finger 
and  thumb  to  be  passed  between  them  and  the  stocking, 
and  in  the  lining  of  the  breeches  was  a  pocket  in  which 
the  cards  had  been  placed,  being  held  there  by  two  pieces 
of  whalebone,  that  closed  the  pocket.  The  searchers, 
among  whom  were  Dick  and  Boldero,  did  not  have  it 
all  their  own  way  ;  four  or  five  men  rushed  upon  them, 
and  endeavoured  to  pull  them  off  Emerson.  The  din 
of  voices  was  prodigious,  but  Mark,  still  standing  on 
the  table,  stilled  it  for  a  moment  by  shouting, — 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  165 

"The  scoundrel  has  an  accomplice,  who  this  evening 
and  yesterday  has  been  signalling  the  strength  of  the 
cards  in  Mr.  Cotter's  hands." 

"Who  is  he?"  was  shouted  over  the  room. 

"It  is  Sir  James  Flash,"  Mark  said.  "I  denounce 
him  as  a  cheat  and  a  sharper." 

As  pale  as  death,  Flash  rushed  to  the  table. 

"  I  don't  know  who  you  are,  sir,"  he  said,  in  a  tone 
of  concentrated  rage,  "  but  you  are  a  liar,  and  you  shall 
answer  for  this  in  the  morning." 

"  I  will  answer  to  any  gentleman  that  calls  me  to 
account,"  Mark  said,  in  a  ringing  voice,  "  but  I  don't 
meet  a  man  who  has  been  expelled  from  White's  for 
cheating,  and  who  I  have  no  doubt  is  well  stocked  with 
cards  at  the  present  moment,  in  readiness  for  the  victim 
that  he  is  next  going  to  meet  after  the  plucking  of  Mr. 
Cotter  has  been  done.  Now,  gentlemen,  search  him, 
and  see  if  I  am  wrong  ;  if  I  am,  I  will  apologise  for  that 
part  of  my  accusation." 

Flash  drew  a  pistol  from  his  pocket,  but  in  an  instant 
his  arm  was  seized  by  those  standing  round  him,  and  it 
exploded  harmlessly.  Among  those  who  seized  Flash 
was  the  man  who  had  played  with  him  the  previous 
evening.  In  spite  of  his  struggles  and  curses,  and  the 
efforts  of  his  friends  to  rescue  him,  he  too  was  thrown 
down  and  eight  court  cards  were  found  concealed  in  his 
sleeve.  The  uproar  while  this  was  going  on  had  been 
tremendous,  but  it  was  suddenly  stilled  as  four  men  in 
dark  clothes  entered  the  room.  Each  held  in  his  hand 
the  well-known  symbol  of  his  office,  the  little  ebony 
staff  surmounted  by  a  silver  crown. 


i66  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  I  arrest  all  present  in  the  name  of  the  king,"  one 
said,  "  for  breaking  the  laws  against  gambling,  and  for 
brawling  and  the  use  of  fire-arms.  Now,  gentlemen, 
resistance  is  useless ;  I  must  request  that  you  each  give 
me  your  card,  and  your  word  of  honour  that  you  will 
appear  at  Bow  Street  to-morrow  morning." 

In  five  minutes  the  house  was  deserted. 

"How  can  I  thank  you,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  Cotter,  who 
was  one  of  those  who  had  seized  Flash's  arm,  diverted 
his  aim,  and  searched  him,  said,  when  they  got  outside 
the  house;  "you  have  saved  my  life.  It  did  not  seem 
possible  to  me  that  you  could  succeed  in  showing  that  I 
was  being  cheated,  and  I  had  firmly  resolved  that,  instead 
of  allowing  you  to  suffer  loss,  I  would  to-morrow  morn- 
ing make  a  clean  breast  of  the  whole  affair  to  my  father, 
as  I  had  intended  to  have  done  this  morning." 

"  If  I  might  advise  you,  Mr.  Cotter,  I  should  say,  carry 
out  your  intention  so  far  as  making  a  clean  breast  of  it 
is  concerned.  Happily,  you  are  free  from  debt,  as  those 
I.O.U.'s  are  worthless,  for  they  were  obtained  from  you 
by  cheating,  therefore  you  have  no  demand  to  make 
upon  his  purse.  The  police  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  en- 
deavour to  keep  this  thing  quiet,  but  your  name  may 
come  out,  and  it  would  be  far  better  that  your  father 
should  hear  this  story  from  you  than  elsewhere  ;  and 
your  assurance  that  you  will  never  touch  a  card  again, 
and  the  heavy  lesson  that  you  have  had,  will  doubtless 
induce  him  to  look  at  the  matter  leniently.  It  will  no 
doubt  be  a  painful  stoiy  to  tell,  but  it  will  be  far  better 
told  by  you." 

"  I  will  do  it,  sir.     As  you  say,  the  lesson  has  been  a 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  167 

heavy  one,  and  henceforth  my  father  shall  have  no  reason 
to  complain  of  me.  May  I  call  and  see  you  to-morrow 
evening?" 

"  Certainly.  I  shall  be  at  home  from  seven  to  eight, 
after  which  hour  I  have  an  engagement.     Good-night." 

Cotter  walked  on  and  Mark  fell  back  and  joined  Dick 
and  Boldero,  who  had  fallen  behind  when  they  saw  him 
speaking  to  Cotter. 

"Well,  Mark,  I  congratulate  you,"  Dick  Chetwynd 
said.  "You  did  it  wonderfully,  though  how  on  earth 
you  knew  that  fellow  had  a  card  in  his  hand  is  more 
than  I  can  guess." 

"  That  is  easily  explained,"  Mark  said.  "  Not  wish- 
ing to  fall  a  victim,  I  have  of  late  been  put  up  to  a  great 
many  of  these  sharpers'  tricks  by  a  man  who  at  one  time 
had  been  in  the  trade  himself" 

"  That  was  a  capital  idea,  Mark,"  Dick  said.  "  I  wish 
you  would  introduce  me  to  him." 

"  I  won't  do  that,  Dick,  but  I  shall  be  very  glad  to 
teach  you  all  I  know  myself  about  it ;  but  I  fancy  that 
after  this  you  will  be  in  no  great  hurry  to  enter  a  gam- 
bling-hell again." 

"  That  is  so,  Mark.  I  have  never  had  any  great  incli- 
nation for  play,  but  after  this  you  may  be  quite  sure  that 
I  will  fight  shy  of  cards  altogether ;  still,  I  shall  be  glad 
if  you  will  put  me  up  to  some  of  these  tricks,  for  I  may 
be  able  to  some  day  save  a  victim  of  card-sharpers,  as 
you  have  done  this  evening." 

The  next  morning,  when  those  who  had  been  present 
at  the  scene  of  the  previous  evening  arrived  at  the 
office  of  the  detectives  in  Bow  Street,  they  were  shown 


1 68  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

into  some  private  rooms  and  asked  to  wait.  Cotter, 
Mark,  and  his  two  friends  first  had  an  interview  with  the 
chief. 

"You  will  understand,"  the  latter  said,  "that  this  is 
an  altogether  informal  affair.  I  propose  you  first  tell 
me  your  story  as  briefly  as  possible." 

This  was  done. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Cotter,  I  take  it  that  you  do  not  wish  to 
prosecute." 

"  Certainly  not.  I  would,  in  fact,  give  anything  rather 
than  appear  in  it," 

"You  have  said  that,  in  addition  to  the  I.O.U.'s  that 
you  have  given  to  the  two  men  caught  cheating,  they 
hold  others  to  the  amount  of  some  ^5000  or  ;^6ooo, 
given  by  you  to  three  other  frequenters  of  the  club.  In 
fact,  these  papers  have  been  found  in  Emerson's  pocket- 
book  ;  he  told  you,  I  believe,  that  he  had  taken  them 
up  so  that  you  should  not  be  inconvenienced  by  them. 
I  understand,  then,  that  you  will  be  quite  content  if  you 
get  these  I.O.U.'s  back  again  ;  those  given  to  Emerson 
and  Flash  are,  of  course,  worthless.  After  what  has 
happened,  they  could  not  be  presented,  but  probably 
you  might  have  trouble  about  the  others,  for,  though  I 
have  no  doubt  that  all  of  the  men  were  in  league  to- 
gether, we  have  no  means  of  absolutely  proving  it." 

"  I  shall  be  more  than  content,  sir ;  I  have  no  wish 
to  prosecute." 

"We  are  glad,"  the  chief  said,  "to  be  able  to  close  a 
dangerous  place,  and  as  the  exposure  would  put  a  stop 
to  the  career  of  these  two  men  and  no  doubt  alarm  a 
good  many  others,  we  don't  care  about  taking  the  mat- 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  169 

ter  into  court.  Such  gross  scandals  as  this  are  best  kept 
quiet,  when  there  is  no  object  in  ventilating  them. 
Therefore,  gentlemen,  as  Mr.  Cotter  is  willing  to  do  so, 
we  shall  let  the  matter  drop.  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you 
will  step  into  the  next  room,  however,  until  I  have  seen 
these  three  men." 

When  they  had  left,  the  three  were  brought  in. 

"You  have  been  concerned,  sirs,"  the  chief  said, 
sternly,  "  in  winning  large  sums  of  money  from  the  Hon. 
William  Denton,  from  Mr.  James  Carew,  from  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Hobson,  and  others  ;  in  all  of  these  cases,  the  two 
men  caught  cheating  last  night  were  also  concerned. 
You  all  hold  notes  of  hand  of  Mr.  Hobson.  I  shall 
advise  that  gentleman's  father  to  refuse  to  pay  those 
notes,  and  promise  him  that  if  any  further  request  for 
payment  is  made,  I  will  furnish  him  with  such  particu- 
lars for  publication  as  will  more  than  justify  him  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world  in  refusing  to  honour  them.  You,  as 
well  as  Mr.  Emerson  and  Sir  James  Flash,  have  won 
large  sums  from  Mr.  Cotter,  and  the  fact  that  the 
I.O.U.'s  he  gave  you  were  found  on  Mr.  Emerson  points 
very  strongly  to  their  being  in  confederacy  with  you  in 
the  matter ;  at  any  rate,  they  point  so  strongly  that, 
whether  a  jury  would  convict  or  not  on  the  evidence 
that  we  shall  be  able  to  lay  before  them,  there  can  be 
no  question  whatever  as  to  what  the  opinion  of  men  of 
honour  will  be.  These  I.O.U.'s  are  in  our  hands.  Mr. 
Cotter  does  not  desire  to  pursue  the  case  ;  he  will,  how- 
ever, refuse  absolutely  to  pay  those  I.O.U.'s,  and  in 
doing  so  he  will  have  the  approval  of  all  honourable 
men.     That  being  so,  the  I.O.U.'s  are  absolutely  useless 


I70  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

to  you,  and  if  you  will  agree  to  my  tearing  them  up 
now,  he  has  most  kindly  consented  to  let  the  matter 
drop  in  your  cases." 

The  three  men,  who  had  all  turned  very  white  when 
he  was  speaking,  now  protested  angrily  against  imputa- 
tions being  made  on  their  honour. 

"  Well,  sirs,"  the  officer  said,  "  in  that  case  the  matter 
can,  of  course,  go  on.  You  know  best  what  the  feeling 
will  be  as  to  these  I.O.U.'s.  They  will  form  an  impor- 
tant item  of  evidence  against  you,  you  will  see.  As  the 
matter  stands,  either  you  gave  them  to  Emerson  to  col- 
lect for  you,  without  any  money  passing  between  you,  a 
very  strange  procedure,  which  you  will  find  it  difficult 
to  explain,  or  else  he  gave  you  the  coin  for  them  and 
you  passed  them  over  to  him,  and  have  therefore  parted 
with  all  claim  on  Mr.  Cotter  on  your  own  account  Of 
course,  I  impound  them  with  the  other  I.O.U.'s  as  proof 
of  a  conspiracy  between  you.  Now,  sirs,  am  I  to  tear 
them  up  or  not?" 

The  three  men  looked  at  each  other,  and  then  one  of 
them  said, — 

"  We  protest  altogether  against  the  assertion,  sir,  but 
at  the  same  time,  as  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Emer- 
son and  Sir  James  Flash  have  played  unfairly,  and  we 
do  not  wish  any  association  of  our  names  with  theirs,  we 
are  perfectly  willing  that  the  I.O.U.'s  which,  under  the 
circumstances,  we  should  never  have  dreamt  of  present- 
ing, should  be  destroyed." 

"I  think  that  you  have  chosen  wisely,"  the  chief  said, 
drily.  "  It  is  a  pity  that  you  did  not  do  so  at  first 
These  are  the  I.O.U.'s  he  gave  to  one  or  other  of  you. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  171 

Perhaps  it  would  be  pleasanter  for  you  to  destroy  them 
yourselves." 

The  three  men  took  the  papers  with  their  names  on 
them  and  tore  them  up. 

"Thank  you,"  he  went  on,  sarcastically.  "That  will 
place  you  in  a  better  position.  You  will  be  able  to  tell 
your  friends  that  you  felt  so  indignant  at  the  manner  in 
which  Mr.  Cotter  had  been  swindled  by  Emerson  and 
Flash  that  you  at  once  destroyed  his  I.O.U.'s  for  the 
sums  that  you  had  won  of  him.  But,  gentlemen," — he 
spoke  sternly  now, — "  remember  that  we  have  a  long 
list  against  you,  and  that  the  next  victim,  or  let  us  say 
his  father,  might  be  more  disposed  to  push  matters  to 
their  full  length  than  is  Mr.  Cotter.  Remember,  also, 
that  we  keep  ourselves  acquainted  with  what  is  going 
on,  and  that  should  trouble  arise  we  shall  produce  all 
the  complaints  that  have  been  made  against  you,  and 
shall  also  mention  your  connection  with  this  affair,  in 
which,  as  I  understand,  you  all  did  your  best  to  prevent 
those  two  fellows  from  being  searched." 

Without  saying  another  word  the  three  men  went 
out  of  the  room,  too  crestfallen  to  make  even  an  attempt 
at  keeping  up  their  air  of  indignation.  The  others 
were  then  called  in. 

"  I  am  sorry,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  that  you  have 
had  the  trouble  of  coming  here,  for  the  gentleman 
swindled  has  declined  to  prosecute  the  swindlers,  and 
you  will  understand  that  he  is  somewhat  anxious  that 
his  name  should  not  appear  in  the  matter.  Fortunately, 
as  instead  of  paying  in  cash  he  gave  I.O.U.'s  for  his 
losses,  he  will  not  be  a  loser  to  any  large  amount  by 


172         •  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

these  transactions.  I  may  say  that  the  proprietor  of 
the  hell  has  been  here  this  morning,  and  to  avoid 
trouble  he  has  consented  to  close  his  place  for  good. 
I  have  only  to  remark  that  I  should  advise  you,  gentle- 
men, in  future,  only  to  indulge  in  gambling  in  places 
where  you  may  be  fairly  assured  of  the  character  of  the 
men  you  play  with.  I  think,  in  conclusion,  that  you 
may  all  feel  grateful  to  Mr.  Cotter  for  refusing  to  prose- 
cute. It  has  saved  you  from  having  to  appear  in  court 
as  witnesses  in  so  utterly  disreputable  an  affair." 

There  was  a  general  murmur  of  assent,  and  in  a 
minute  or  two  the  room  was  clear.  Flash  and  Emer- 
son were  then  brought  in,  with  a  constable  on  each  side 
of  them. 

"  Mr.  Cotter  has,  I  regret  to  say,  declined  to  prose- 
cute, and  Mr.  Thorndyke  has  done  the  same  with  regard 
to  Sir  James  Flash's  use  of  his  pistol.  You  have,  there- 
fore, escaped  the  punishment  due  to  cheats  at  cards. 
It  is  the  less  matter,  as  you  are  not  likely  to  have  an 
opportunity  of  making  fresh  victims,  for  the  story  will 
be  known  by  this  afternoon  in  every  club  in  London. 
These  I.O.U.'s  will  be  of  no  use  to  you — they  are  not 
worth  the  paper  on  which  they  are  written.  However, 
I  shall  take  it  upon  myself  to  hand  them  back  to  Mr. 
Cotter,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  their  getting  into 
other  hands  and  giving  him  trouble.  You  can  unlock 
those  handcuffs,  constable  ;  these  men  are  at  liberty  to 
go,  and  if  they  will  take  my  advice  they  will  lose  no 
time  in  crossing  the  water  and  establishing  themselves 
somewhere  where  their  talents  are  likely  to  be  better 
appreciated  than  they  are  here.     They  can  go  ;  one  of 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  173 

you  can  call  a  hackney  coach  for  them  if  they  wish  it 
They  will  scarcely  care  to  walk  with  their  garments  in 
their  present  condition." 

Then  the  chief  went  into  the  next  room. 

"There  is  an  end  of  that  affair,  Mr.  Cotter.  Here 
are  the  I.O.U.'s  you  gave  to  those  two  swindlers.  Those 
you  gave  to  the  other  three  men,  who  were  no  doubt 
their  confederates,  have  been  torn  up  by  them  in  my 
presence.  They  declare  that  after  seeing  how  shame- 
fully you  had  been  victimised  they  had  not  the  slightest 
idea  of  ever  presenting  them." 

"  I  am  sure  that  1  am  extremely  grateful  to  you," 
Cotter  said.  "  I  know  that  I  have  behaved  like  a  mad- 
man, and  that  I  don't  deserve  to  have  got  off  as  I  have 
done.  It  will  be  a  lesson  to  me  for  life,  I  can  assure 
you." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


AT  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  Philip  Cotter  called 
at  Mark's  lodgings,  accompanied  by  his  father, 
who,  as  he  came  in  with  him,  advanced  at  once 
to  Mark  and  shook  him  warmly  by  the  hand. 

"  My  son  has  told  me  everything,  Mr.  Thorndyke," 
he  said,  "  and  I  cannot  thank  you  sufficiently  for  the 
noble  part  you  took  in  rescuing  him  from  the  terrible 
effects  of  his  folly.  I  have  been  down  here  twice  this 
afternoon,  for  I  felt  that  I  could  not  rest  until  I  had 
shaken  you  by  the  hand.  It  is  not  the  question  of 
money  so  much,  though  that  would  have  been  a  serious 
loss  to  me,  but  it  is  the  saving  of  my  son's  life,  and  the 
saving  of  the  honour  of  our  name." 

"  I  am  glad,  indeed,  to  have  been  of  service,  Mr. 
Cotter,  and  I  trust  that  you  have  consented  to  forgive 
the  folly  that  he  has  committed,  and  which  I  feel  sure 
will  never  be  repeated." 

"  Yes.  It  was  a  heavy  blow  to  me,  Mr.  Thorndyke, 
when  Philip  told  me ;  but  as  he  has  sworn  most  sol- 
174 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  175 

emnly  never  to  touch  a  card  again,  and  as  I  feel  sure 
that  the  lesson  cannot  but  be  a  useful  one  to  him  all  his 
life,  I  have  agreed  to  say  no  more  about  it,  and  let  the 
matter  drop  altogether.  He  has  been  fortunate  to  have 
escaped  so  easily.  He  told  me  of  the  noble  offer  you 
had  made  :  to  pay  his  losses  if,  on  proceeding  two  or 
three  nights  longer  on  his  mad  course,  you  should  not 
be  able  to  prove  that  he  was  being  cheated." 

"I  was  not  committing  myself  heavily,"  Mark  said, 
with  a  smile.  "  I  had  seen  enough  to  be  absolutely 
certain,  and  was  sure  that  I  should  be  able  to  bring  it 
home  to  them." 

"  Well,  sir,  you  have,  at  any  rate,  laid  us  both  under 
the  deepest  obligation.  Is  there  any  possible  way  in 
which  we  can  show  our  gratitude?" 

Mark  thought  for  a  moment. 

"  In  one  way  you  might  do  me  a  favour,  Mr.  Cotter. 
A  ward  of  my  father's,  who  will  inherit  some  property 
when  she  comes  of  age,  is  at  present  finishing  her  edu- 
cation in  town,  and  is  living  with  a  lady  who  has  been 
her  friend  and  companion  since  childhood.  I  have  a 
good  many  acquaintances,  but  they  are  all  bachelors  ; 
and,  having  been  living  down  at  my  father's  place,  near 
Reigate,  for  so  many  years,  the  ladies  have  no  acquaint- 
ances in  London.  They  live  at  Islington,  and  their  life  is 
a  very  dull  one.  I  am  anxious,  for  several  reasons,  that 
the  young  lady  should  have  the  advantage  of  going 
somewhat  into  society.  Hitherto  I  have  had  no  means 
of  introducing  her.  If  it  is  not  too  much  to  ask,  Mr. 
Cotter,  I  should  be  extremely  glad  and  obliged  if  Mrs. 
Cotter  would  call  on  them  and  give  them  an  introduc- 


1/6  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

tion  into  society.  The  lady  with  my  father's  ward  is 
the  widow  of  a  captain  in  the  Indian  army,  and  is  in 
all  ways  a  very  charming  person,  and  has  been  at  the 
head  of  my  father's  establishment  for  the  last  twelve 
years." 

"  With  the  greatest  pleasure  in  the  world,  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke.  I  am  only  sorry  that  it  is  so  slight  a  thing  that 
you  ask  of  me.  I  have  thought  it  but  right  to  tell  my 
wife  what  has  passed,  and  I  had  difficulty  in  persuading 
her  not  to  come  with  me  this  evening  to  also  express  her 
gratitude  to  you.  She  will  be  pleased,  indeed,  to  call 
upon  your  friends  at  once,  and  I  am  sure  she  will  do  so 
to-morrow.  I  was  going  to  ask  you  to  dine  with  us, 
and  I  hope  that  you  will  do  so.  We  shall  have  no  one 
else,  and  I  hope  that  you  will  be  able  to  arrange  to 
meet  your  friends  at  our  house  a  few  days  later." 

The  next  morning  Mark  called  on  Mrs.  Cunningham. 

"  I  think  you  will  have  a  visitor  to-day,"  he  said.  "  It 
has  happened  that  I  have  been  able  to  do  a  service  to 
the  son  of  Mr.  Cotter,  a  wealthy  banker.  I  am  going  to 
dine  there  this  evening.  He  asked  me  about  my  friends 
in  London,  and  I  mentioned  that  my  only  lady  friends 
were  you  and  Millicent.  He  asked  a  few  questions  as  to 
where  you  were  living  and  so  on,  and  said  that  his  wife 
would  have  much  pleasure  in  calling  and  introducing 
Millicent  into  society.  As  your  life  is  very  dull  here, 
and  it  is  clearly  very  desirable  that  Millicent  should  go 
into  society,  I  gladly  accepted  the  offer,  and  I  believe 
that  she  will  call  to-day." 

"That  will  be  very  nice,  indeed,  Mark.  Millicent  is 
not  complaining,  but  she  must  have  felt  it  very  dull.      I 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  177 

have  even  felt  it  so  myself,  after  the  cheerful  society  we 
had  at  home." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  shall  like  it,"  Millicent  said, 
doubtfully. 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  will,  Millicent ;  and,  besides,  it  will  be 
good  for  you.  It  is  not  natural  for  a  girl  of  your  age 
to  be  here  without  friends,  and  I  shall  be  very  glad  to 
know  that  you  are  going  to  mix  a  little  with  other 
people." 

Mrs.  Cotter  called  that  afternoon,  and  three  days  later 
Mark  met  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Millicent  at  a  dinner 
party  at  the  banker's,  and  Mrs.  Cotter  introduced  them 
very  warmly  to  several  of  her  friends,  with  the  result  that 
in  a  very  short  time  they  were  frequently  invited  out, 
while  they  became  very  intimate  with  the  banker  and 
his  wife,  and  often  spent  the  day  there- 
Some  little  time  after  this  Mark  was  entrusted  by  his 
chief  with  the  work  of  discovering  a  man  who  had  com- 
mitted a  very  atrocious  murder,  and  was,  it  was  tolerably 
certain,  hiding  in  the  slums  of  Westminster.  It  was  the 
first  business  of  the  kind  that  had  been  confided  to  him, 
and  he  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  carry  it  out  success- 
fully. He  dressed  himself  as  a  hawker  and  took  a  small 
lodging  in  one  of  the  lanes,  being  away  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  day  ostensibly  on  his  business,  and  of  an 
evening  dropping  into  some  of  the  worst  public-houses 
in  the  neighbourhood.  He  was  at  first  viewed  with  some 
suspicion,  but  it  was  not  long  before  he  became  popular. 
He  let  it  be  understood  that  he  had  got  into  trouble  down 
in  the  country,  and  that  he  was  quite  ready  to  take  part  in 
any  job  that  promised  to  be  profitable.      But  he  princi- 


178  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

pally  owed  his  popularity  to  the  fact  that  the  bully  of  the 
locality  picked  a  quarrel  with  him,  and,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  those  present,  Mark  invited  him  to  go  outside. 

"You  had  better  make  it  up  with  him,  mate,"  a  man 
sitting  by  his  side  whispered.  "  He  was  in  the  prize-ring 
at  one  time,  and  thrashed  big  Mike  Hartley  at  Kenning- 
ton.  He  had  to  give  it  up  owing  to  having  fought  a 
cross.      He  would  kill  you  in  five  minutes." 

"  I  will  chance  that,"  Mark  said,  quietly,  as  he  moved 
towards  the  door.  "  I  don't  think  that  he  is  stronger 
than  I  am,  and  I  can  use  my  fists  a  bit,  too." 

By  the  time  they  had  taken  off  their  upper  garments 
a  crowd  had  assembled.  The  news  that  a  hawker  was 
going  to  stand  up  against  Black  Jim  circulated  rapidly 
and  caused  intense  excitement.  To  the  astonishment 
of  the  spectators,  the  bully  from  the  first  had  not  a 
shadow  of  a  chance,  and  at  the  end  of  the  third  round 
was  carried  away  senseless,  while  the  hawker  had  not 
received  a  scratch.  A  few  days  later,  Mark,  who,  on  the 
strength  of  his  prowess,  had  had  two  or  three  hints  that 
he  could  be  put  up  to  a  good  thing  if  he  was  inclined 
to  join,  was  going  down  to  Westminster  when  two  men 
stopped  and  looked  after  him. 

"  I  tell  you,  Emerson,  that  is  the  fellow.  I  could 
swear  to  him  anywhere.  What  he  is  got  up  like  that 
for,  I  cannot  tell  you,  but  I  should  not  be  surprised  if 
he  is  one  of  that  Bow  Street  gang.  He  called  himself 
Mark  Thorndyke,  and  Chetwynd  said  that  he  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  property,  but  that  might  have  been  part  of  the 
plan  to  catch  us.  I  have  never  been  able  to  understand 
how  a  raw  countryman  could  have  caught  you  palming 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  179 

that  card.  I  believe  the  fellow  is  a  Bow  Street  runner ; 
if  so,  it  is  rum  if  we  cannot  manage  to  get  even  with 
him  before  we  go.  It  seemed  to  me  that  luck  had  de- 
serted us  altogether  ;  but  this  looks  as  if  it  was  going  to 
turn  again.     Let's  go  after  him." 

Keeping  some  fifty  yards  behind  him  they  watched 
Mark  to  his  lodgings,  waited  until  he  came  out  again, 
and  followed  him  to  a  public-house. 

"  He  is  acting  as  a  detective,  sure  enough,"  Emerson 
said.      "  The  question  is,  what  are  we  to  do  next?" 

In  half  an  hour  Mark  came  out  again.  Several  peo- 
ple nodded  to  him  as  he  passed  them,  but  they  saw  a 
big  man,  who  happened  to  be  standing  under  a  lamp, 
turn  his  back  suddenly  as  Mark  approached  him,  and, 
after  he  had  passed,  stand  scowling  after  him  and  mut- 
tering deep  curses.     Flash  at  once  went  up  to  him. 

"  Do  you  know  who  that  fellow  is,  my  man  ?" 

The  fellow  turned  savagely  upon  him. 

"  I  don't  know  who  he  is,  but  what  is  that  to  you  ?" 

"  He  is  not  a  friend  of  ours,"  Flash  said,  quietly ; 
"  quite  the  contrary.  We  have  known  him  when  he  was 
not  got  up  like  this,  and  we  are  rather  curious  to  know 
what  he  is  doing  here." 

"Do  you  mean  that?" 

"  I  do  ;  I  owe  the  fellow  a  grudge." 

"So  do  I,"  the  man  growled.  "Just  step  up  this 
next  turning  ;  there  won't  be  anyone  about  there.  Now, 
then,  what  do  yer  want  to  know?" 

"  I  want  to  know  who  he  is." 

"  Well,  he  calls  himself  a  hawker ;  but  my  idea  of 
him  is  he  is  one  of  the  fancy,  perhaps  a  west  country- 


i8o  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

man  who  is  keeping  dark  here  till  he  can  get  a  match 
on.  I  have  been  a  prize-fighter  myself,  but  he  knocked 
me  out  in  three  rounds  the  other  day." 

"Well,  the  last  time  I  saw  him,"  Flash  said,  "  he  was 
dressed  as  a  swell.  My  idea  of  him  is,  he  is  a  Bow 
Street  runner,  and  is  got  up  like  this  to  lay  his  hands  on 
some  of  the  fellows  down  here." 

"  You  don't  mean  it,"  the  man  said,  with  a  deep  oath. 
"Then  I  can  tell  you  he  has  come  to  the  wrong  shop.  I 
have  only  got  to  whisper  it  about,  and  his  life  would  not 
be  worth  an  hour's  purchase.  I  had  meant  to  stick  a 
knife  in  him  on  the  first  opportunity,  but  this  will  save 
me  the  trouble." 

"Well,  you  can  have  your  revenge  and  five  guineas 
besides,"  Flash  said.  "  But  we  must  be  there  at  the 
time.  I  should  like  him  to  know  that  I  was  at  the  bot- 
tom of  his  being  caught." 

They  stood  talking  together  for  a  few  minutes  and 
then  separated,  Flash  and  his  companion  going  back  to 
a  quiet  lodging  they  had  taken  until  they  could  finish 
their  arrangements  for  disposing  of  their  furniture  and 
belongings  before  going  abroad,  while  at  the  same  time 
they  finished  plucking  a  country  greenhorn  they  had 
met  at  a  coffee-house.  Two  days  later,  wrapped  up  in 
great-coats  and  with  rough  caps  pulled  down  over  their 
eyes,  they  entered  the  thieves'  resort  half  an  hour  be- 
fore Mark's  usual  time  of  getting  there.  A  larger  num- 
ber of  men  than  usual  were  assembled,  and  among  them 
was  Black  Jim.  The  men  were  all  talking  excitedly, 
and  were  evidently  furious  at  the  news  that  the  pugilist 
had  just  told  them. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  i8i 

"Those  are  the  gents  that  have  given  me  the  office," 
he  said,  as  Flash  and  his  companion  entered.  "  They 
can  tell  yer  he  is  one  of  that  cursed  Bow  Street  lot." 

"  That  is  right  enough,  my  men,"  Flash  said.  "  He 
and  four  of  his  mates  broke  into  a  place  where  we  were 
having  a  bit  of  play,  three  weeks  since,  marched  us  all 
away  to  Bow  Street,  and  shut  the  place  up.  I  don't 
know  what  he  is  down  here  for,  but  you  may  be  sure 
that  it's  for  no  good  to  some  of  you.  We  owe  him  a 
heavy  one  ourselves.  He  came  spying  on  us  dressed 
up  as  a  swell  and  spoilt  our  game,  and  got  the  darbies 
put  on  us,  and  we  have  sworn  to  get  even  with  him." 

"You  will  get  even,  don't  you  fear,"  one  of  the  men 
growled,  "  and  more  than  even,  strike  me  blind  if  you 
don't." 

"Look  here,  lads,"  Flash  said.  "There  is  one  thing 
I  say, — don't  use  your  knives  on  him  ;  remember  he  is  a 
runner,  and  no  doubt  his  chief  knows  all  that  he  is 
doing,  and  no  doubt  ordered  him  to  come  here.  There 
will  be  a  big  search,  you  may  be  sure,  when  he  don't 
turn  up  to  make  his  report.  So  don't  let's  have  any 
bloodshed.     Let  the  thing  be  done  quietly." 

"We  can  chuck  his  body  into  the  river,"  one  said. 

"  Yes  ;  but  if  it  is  picked  up  with  half  a  dozen  holes 
in  it,  you  may  be  sure  that  they  will  be  down  here,  and 
like  enough  every  man  who  has  used  this  place  will  be 
arrested  ;  you  know  that  when  there  are  twenty  men 
the  chances  are  that  one  will  slip  his  neck  out  of  the 
halter  by  turning  king's  evidence." 

An  angry  growl  went  round  the  room. 

"Well,  you  know  well  enough  it  is  so — it  is  always 


1 82  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

the  case  ;  besides  we  ought  to  give  him  a  Httle  time  to 
prepare  himself.  My  idea  is  that  the  best  plan  will  be 
to  bind  and  gag  him  first,  then  we  can  hold  a  little  court 
over  him  and  let  him  know  what  is  coming.  An  hour 
later,  when  the  place  gets  a  bit  quiet,  we  can  carry  him 
down  to  the  river, — it  is  not  above  fifty  yards  away, — tie 
a  heavy  weight  round  his  neck,  cut  his  cords  the  last 
thing,  and  chuck  him  over  ;  if  his  body  is  found,  it  will 
be  thought  it  is  that  of  some  chap  tired  of  life  who  took 
pains  to  drown  himself  pretty  quickly,  and  there  won't 
be  any  fuss  over  him,  and  there  will  be  nothing  to  come 
upon  any  of  you  fellows  for." 

There  was  a  general  murmur  of  assent.  Several  of 
those  present  had  already  committed  themselves  to  some 
extent  with  the  supposed  hawker,  and  were  as  eager  as 
Flash  himself  that  he  should  be  killed  ;  still,  all  felt  that 
it  was  as  well  that  it  should  be  managed  with  the  least 
possible  risk  of  discovery,  for  while  an  ordinary  man  could 
be  put  out  of  the  way  without  any  trouble  arising,  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  Bow  Street  runner  added  enor- 
mously to  the  risk  of  the  discovery  of  his  fate. 

There  was  a  little  talk  and  then  two  of  the  men  went 
out  and  brought  back  a  couple  of  strong* ropes.  A  few 
minutes  after  their  return,  Mark  Thorndyke  came  in. 
He  paused  as  he  entered  the  room  in  surprise  at  the 
silence  that  reigned,  for  he  was  accustomed  to  be 
greeted  with  friendly  exclamations.  However,  as  he 
walked  in,  the  door  closed,  and  then,  suddenly,  with 
shouts  of  "Down  with  the  spy,"  the  men  sprang  from 
their  seats  and  made  a  sudden  rush  at  him.  For  a 
minute  the  struggle  was  tremendous :   man  after  man 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  183 

went  down  under  Mark's  blows,  others  clung  on  to  him 
from  behind,  a  rope  was  passed  round  his  legs  and 
pulled,  and  he  fell  down  with  a  crash,  bringing  down 
five  or  six  of  his  assailants  ;  a  minute  later  he  was 
gagged  and  bound. 

While  the  struggle  was  going  on,  no  one  noticed  that 
a  Lascar's  face  was  pressed  against  the  window  ;  it  dis- 
appeared as  soon  as  Mark  fell,  and  ten  minutes  later 
a  dark-faced  sailor  ran  into  Gibbons' s.  It  was  a  quiet 
evening  at  Ingleston's,  and  Gibbons,  after  smoking  a  pipe 
with  half  a  dozen  of  the  pugilists,  had  just  returned. 

"Hallo,"  he  said,  as  he  opened  the  door,  "what  the 
deuce  do  you  want?" 

The  man  was  for  a  moment  too  breathless  to  answer, 

"You  know  Mr.  Thomdyke?"  he  said,  at  last,  in  very 
fair  English. 

"Yes,  I  know  him.     Well,  what  of  him  ?" 

"  He  has  been  attacked  by  a  number  of  thieves  in  a 
public-house  near  the  river  at  Westminster,  and  he  will 
be  murdered  unless  you  go  with  others  to  help  him." 

"What  the  deuce  was  he  doing  there?"  Gibbons 
muttered,  and  then,  seizing  his  cap,  said  to  the  Lascar, 
"Come  along  with  me  ;  it  ain't  likely  that  we  shall  be 
in  time,  but  we  will  try  anyhow." 

He  ran  to  Ingleston's. 

"Come  along,  Ingleston,"  he  exclaimed,  "and  all  of 
you.  You  all  know  Mr.  Thomdyke.  This  man  says 
he  has  been  attacked  by  a  gang  down  at  Westminster, 
and  will  be  murdered.  I  am  afraid  we  shan't  be  in  time, 
but  it  is  worth  trying." 

The  prize-fighters  all  leapt  to  their  feet     Mark  had 


i84  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

sparred  with  several  of  them,  and,  being  open-handed 
and  friendly,  was  generally  liked.  In  a  moment,  headed 
by  Ingleston  and  Gibbons,  they  started  at  the  top  of 
their  speed,  and  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  were 
at  bank-side. 

"That  is  the  house,"  the  sailor  said,  pointing  to  the 
public,  where  a  red  blind  had  been  lowered  at  the  win- 
dow, and  two  men  lounged  outside  the  door  to  tell  any 
chance  customer  that  might  come  along  he  was  not 
wanted  there  at  present. 

Inside  a  mock  trial  had  been  going  on,  and  Mark  had 
been  sentenced  to  death  as  a  spy,  not  a  voice  being 
raised  in  his  defence.  As  soon  as  he  had  been  lifted  up 
and  seated  so  that  he  could  see  the  faces  of  those  pres- 
ent, he  recognized  the  two  gamblers,  and  saw  at  once 
that  his  fate  was  sealed.  Even  had  they  not  been  there, 
the  chance  of  escape  would  have  been  small.  The  fact 
that  one  of  the  detectives  had  been  caught  under  cir- 
cumstances when  there  was  but  slight  chance  of  its  ever 
being  known  how  he  came  to  his  end  was,  in  itself,  suffi- 
cient to  doom  him.  Several  of  the  men  present  had 
taken  him  into  their  confidence,  and  he  had  encouraged 
them  to  do  so  ;  not  that  he  wanted  to  entrap  them  or 
that  he  intended  to  do  so,  but  in  order  to  obtain  a  clue 
through  them  as  to  the  hiding-place  of  the  man  he  was 
in  search  of 

The  savage  exultation  on  the  faces  of  the  two  gam- 
blers, however,  was  sufficient  to  extinguish  any  ray  of 
hope.  He  felt  sure  at  once  that  they  had  been  the 
authors  of  his  seizure,  and  that  no  thought  of  mercy 
would  enter  the  minds  of  these  two  scoundrels  whose 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  185 

plans  he  had  frustrated,  whose  position  he  had  demol- 
ished, and  to  whom  he  had  caused  the  loss  of  a  large 
sum  of  money.  Neither  Flash  nor  Emerson  would 
have  taken  share  in  a  crime  known  to  so  many  had  they 
not  been  on  the  point  of  leaving  England.  Their  names 
were  known  to  no  one  there,  and  even  should  some  of 
these  afterwards  peach,  they  would  at  least  be  safe. 
Mark  had  been  asked  whether  he  could  deny  that  he 
was  a  member  of  the  detective  force,  and  had  shaken 
his  head.  Even  if  he  had  told  a  lie,  which  he  would 
not  do,  the  lie  would  have  been  a  useless  one.  No  one 
would  have  believed  it,  for  the  two  gamblers  would  have 
been  witnesses  that  he  was  so. 

He  had  been  placed  in  one  corner  of  the  room  so  that 
what  light  there  was  would  not  fall  on  his  face,  and  had 
anyone  entered  they  would  not  have  noticed  that  he 
was  gagged.  One,  indeed,  had  suggested  that  it  would 
be  better  to  lay  him  under  one  of  the  benches,  but 
Black  Jim  said,  with  a  brutal  laugh, — 

"  No,  no  ;  it  is  better  that  we  should  keep  sight  of 
him,  and  if  anyone  asks  a  question,  of  course  we  can  say 
that  the  gentleman  has  the  toothache." 

Presently  Flash  spoke  to  the  ruffian  in  a  low  voice. 

"Yes,  I  think  you  are  right,"  he  replied.  "Look 
here,"  he  went  on,  raising  his  voice,  "there  is  no  occa- 
sion to  have  such  a  lot  in  this  business  ;  Jake  Watson, 
Bill  the  Tinker,  and  me  are  quite  enough  to  carry  him 
to  his  bed.  I  reckon  the  rest  had  better  make  them- 
selves scarce  when  the  time  comes,  go  home,  and  keep 
their  mouths  shut.  I  need  not  say  that  anyone  who  lets 
his  tongue  wag  about  it  is  likely  to  come  to  a  worse  end 


i86  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

than  this  bloodhound.  We  will  have  another  glass  of 
grog  before  you  turn  out ;  the  streets  won't  be  quiet  for 
another  hour  yet,  and  there  is  another  guinea  of  this 
worthy  hawker's  to  be  spent.  Summers,  make  another 
big  bowl  of  punch.  Don't  put  so  much  water  in  it  as 
you  did  in  the  last." 

The  landlord,  a  notorious  ruffian,  was  just  coming  into 
the  room  with  a  huge  bowl  when  there  was  the  sound 
of  a  scuffle  outside. 

"  You  had  better  see  what  is  up,"  Black  Jim  said,  and 
two  of  the  men  nearest  the  door  unbarred  and  opened 
it.  As  they  did  so  there  was  a  rush,  and  eight  powerful 
men  ran  in,  knocking  to  the  floor  those  who  had  opened 
the  door.  The  rest  sprang  to  their  feet ;  Gibbons  looked 
round,  and  as  his  eye  fell  upon  Mark,  who  had,  the  mo- 
ment the  men  inside  rose,  got  into  a  standing  position. 
Gibbons  launched  himself  towards  him,  striking  four  of 
the  ruffians  who  endeavoured  to  stop  him  to  the  ground 
with  his  crushing  blows. 

"  This  way,"  he  shouted  to  his  friends.  "  Ingleston 
and  Tring,  do  you  keep  the  door." 

The  moment  the  six  men  had  closed  round  Mark,  one 
of  them  taking  out  his  knife,  cut  the  cords,  removed  the 
bandage  from  his  mouth,  and  extricated  the  gag.  The 
name  of  the  two*  prize-fighters  had  created  something 
like  a  panic  among  the  crowd,  which  had  increased 
when  one  of  them  shouted,  "It  is  Charley  Gibbons." 
Flash  and  Emerson  sprung  to  their  feet  with  the  rest, 
and  the  latter  shouted,  "  Go  at  them,  men,  there  are  only 
eight  of  them,  and  we  are  twenty  ;  knife  them,  or  you 
will  all  hang  for  this  job." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  187 

The  knowledge  of  their  danger  was  evident  to  all 
the  men,  and,  nerved  by  desperation,  they  rushed  at  the 
prize-fighters,  but  the  eight  were  now  nine,  and  each  of 
them  in  a  fray  of  this  kind  was  equal  to  half  a  dozen 
ordinary  men.  Scarce  a  w'ord  was  spoken,  but  the 
sound  of  crushing  blows  and  scuffling,  and  an  occa- 
sional oath  made  a  confused  din  in  the  half-lighted  room. 
Mark  burst  his  way  through  his  assailants  to  the  spot 
where  Flash  and  Emerson  were  standing,  somewhat  in 
the  rear  of  the  crowd,  for  they  had  been  sitting  at  the 
other  end  of  the  room.  Flash  had  a  pistol  in  his  hand, 
but  the  man  who  was  standing  in  front  of  him  was  struck 
with  such  violence  that  he  fell  backwards,  knocking 
Emerson  to  the  ground,  and  almost  upsetting  Flash,  and 
before  the  latter  could  steady  himself  Mark  struck  him 
with  all  his  force  under  the  chin.  A  moment  later  the 
landlord  blew  out  the  two  candles,  and  in  the  darkness 
the  ruffians  made  a  dash  for  the  door,  carried  Tring  and 
Ingleston  off  their  feet,  and  rushed  out  into  the  lane. 

"If  the  man  who  blew  out  those  candles  don't  light 
them  again  at  once,"  Gibbons  shouted,  "  I,  Charley 
Gibbons,  tell  him  that  I  will  smash  him  and  burn  this 
place  over  his  head  ;  he  had  best  be  quick  about  it." 

The  landlord,  cowed  with  the  threat,  soon  returned 
with  a  candle  from  the  kitchen,  and  lit  those  that  he  had 
extinguished. 

"Well  Mr.  Thorndyke,  we  just  arrived  in  time,  I 
fancy,"  Gibbons  said. 

"  You  have  saved  my  life.  Gibbons — you  and  the 
others.  How  you  got  to  know  that  I  was  here  I  cannot 
imagine,  but  I  should  have  been  a  dead  man  in  another 


i88  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

half-hour,  if  you  had  not  arrived.  I  thank  you  all  from 
the  bottom  of  my  heart." 

"That  is  all  right,  sir,"  Gibbons  said.  "  It  is  a  pleas- 
ure to  give  such  scoundrels  as  these  a  lesson.  Is  any- 
one hurt?     I  fancy  I  have  got  a  scratch  or  two." 

Several  of  the  men  had  been  cut  with  knives,  but 
the  blows  had  been  given  so  hurriedly  that  no  one 
was  seriously  injured.     Twelve  men  lay  on  the  ground. 

"  Now,  sir,  what  shall  we  do  with  these  fellows  ?" 

•*I  should  say  we  had  better  leave  them  alone.  Gib- 
bons. I  don't  want  any  row  over  the  affair.  It  is  the 
work  of  these  two  fellows  here.  I  think  I  pretty  well 
settled  one  of  them." 

Gibbons  stooped  over  Flash. 

"  You  have  broken  his  jaw,  sir ;  but  he  will  come 
round  in  time.  I  believe  this  other  fellow  is  only 
shamming.  I  don't  see  any  of  our  handiwork  upon 
his  face.  The  others  have  all  got  as  much  as  they 
want,  I  think."  And  taking  a  candle  he  looked  at  their 
faces.  "There  is  not  one  of  them  who  will  want  to 
show  up  for  a  week  or  so,"  he  said,  "  and  there  are 
two  or  three  will  carry  the  marks  to  their  graves.  Well, 
sir,  if  you  don't  want  anything  done  to  them,  the 
sooner  we  are  off  the  better.  Those  fellows  who  got 
away  may  bring  a  lot  of  others  down  upon  us.  As  long 
as  it  is  only  fists,  we  could  march  through  Westminster  ; 
but  as  they  would  have  knives,  it  is  just  as  well  to  get 
out  of  it  before  there  is  any  trouble.  You  are  got  up 
in  a  rum  way,  Mr.  Thorndyke." 

"  Yes ;  I  will  tell  you  about  it  afterwards.  I  agree 
with  you  that  we  had  best  be  moving  at  once." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  189 

But  the  men  who  had  fled  were  too  glad  to  have 
made  their  escape  to  think  of  anything  but  to  make 
for  their  dens  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  the  party 
passed  through  the  lanes  into  the  open  space  in  front  of 
Parliament  House  without  interruption. 

"  We  will  go  up  to  your  place,  Ingleston,  and  talk  it 
over  there,"  Mark  said.  "You  can  get  those  cuts 
bound  up,  and  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  get  a  drink. 
That  thing  they  shoved  into  my  mouth  hurt  my  tongue 
a  good  deal,  and  I  have  not  gone  through  a  pleasant 
half-hour  I  can  tell  you." 

He  walked  up  past  Whitehall  with  Gibbons  and 
Ingleston,  the  others  going  in  pairs  so  as  not  to  attract 
attention.  As  soon  as  they  reached  Ingleston 's  place, 
the  latter  told  the  man  in  the  bar  to  put  the  shutters  up, 
led  the  way  into  the  bar  parlour,  and  mixed  a  large 
bowl  of  punch. 

"  Now,  Gibbons,  in  the  first  place,"  Mark  said,  after 
quenching  his  thirst,  "  how  did  you  know  of  my  being 
in  danger  ?" 

"Well  sir,  a  black  sailor  chap  ran  into  my  place  sud- 
denly and  told  me." 

"  Do  you  mean  a  coloured  man,  Gibbons  ?" 

"Yes,  sir,  one  of  those  Lascar  chaps  you  see  about 
the  docks,  I  did  not  ask  any  questions,  but  ran  as 
hard  as  I  could.  I  had  only  left  here  five  minutes 
before,  and  knew  that  Tring  and  some  of  the  others 
would  still  be  here.  They  did  not  lose  a  moment,  and 
off  we  went.  The  sailor  chap  he  kept  ahead.  I  tried 
to  come  up  to  him  two  or  three  times  to  get  to  know 
something  about  it,  but  he  always  seemed  to  quicken 


I90  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

his  pace  when  I  was  coming  up,  and  I  soon  got  too 
blown  to  want  to  do  much  talking.  He  led  us  to  the 
door,  and  after  that  I  saw  nothing  more  of  him.  What 
became  of  him  I  don't  know.  I  expect  he  was  better 
at  running  than  he  was  at  fighting." 

"  It  is  curious,"  Mark  said,  thoughtfully.  "  He  might 
have  been  in  the  place  when  I  went  in,  and  slipped  out 
while  I  was  making  a  fight  for  it.  I  have  seen  a  Lascar 
several  times  while  I  have  been  down  there.  I  daresay 
it  was  the  same  man,  though  why  he  should  take  such 
trouble  for  the  sake  of  a  stranger  I  don't  know.  There 
seems  to  be  a  good  many  of  them  about,  for,  now  I 
think  of  it,  I  have  run  against  them  several  times 
wherever  I  have  been  in  town." 

•'  Now,  sir,  what  did  they  want  to  kill  you  for?" 

"  Well,  Gibbons,  it  happened  in  this  way.  My  father, 
you  know,  was  murdered  by  a  man  who  had  a  grudge 
against  him  and  who  is  both  a  highwayman  and  a  house- 
breaker." 

"  They  don't  often  go  together,"  Ingleston  said.  "The 
highwaymen  generally  look  down  upon  the  burglars, 
and  keep  themselves  to  themselves." 

"  I  know  they  do,  Ingleston  ;  but  this  fellow  has 
been  a  convict,  and  is  not  particular  what  he  turns  his 
hand  to.  The  detectives  have  been  after  him  for  a  long 
time,  but  have  failed,  and  I  determined  to  take  the 
matter  up  myself,  and  ever  since  I  have  been  up  here  I 
have  been  hunting  about  in  the  worst  quarters  of  the 
town.  The  people  of  Bow  Street  have  aided  me  in 
every  way  they  could,  and  I  suppose  some  of  these  men 
have  seen  me  go  in  or  out  of  the  place.     Of  course, 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  191 

when  I  am  going  into  these  bad  quarters  I  put  on  a  dis- 
guise, and  manage  to  get  in  with  some  of  these  thieves, 
and  so  to  try  to  get  news  of  him  through  them.  Three 
weeks  ago  I  decided  to  try  Westminster.  I  was  getting 
on  uncommonly  well  there,  principally  because  I  gave  a 
tremendous  thrashing  to  a  fellow  they  call  Black  Jim. 
He  has  been  a  prize-fighter." 

"I  know  him,"  Tring  said:  "it  was  the  fellow  that 
was  kicked  out  for  selling  a  fight.  He  was  not  a  bad 
man  with  his  fists,  either ;  but  I  expect  you  astonished 
him,  Mr.  Thorn  dyke." 

"Yes,  I  knocked  him  out  of  time  in  three  rounds. 
Well,  he  has  been  a  bully  down  there,  and  everyone  was 
very  glad  that  he  was  taken  down.  After  that  I  got  to 
know  several  of  the  worst  lot  down  there.  They  fancied 
that  I  was  one  of  themselves,  and  several  of  them  made 
proposals  to  me  to  join  them,  and  of  course  I  encour- 
aged the  idea  in  hopes  of  coming  upon  the  man  that  I 
was  after.  Then  some  fellow  in  the  street  recognised 
me,  I  suppose,  and  denounced  me  to  the  rest  as  being 
one  of  the  runners.  I  suppose  he  told  them  this  even- 
ing, before  I  went  in. 

"The  place  was  a  regular  thieves'  den,  which,  of 
course,  was  why  I  went  there.  Naturally  they  were 
furious,  especially  those  who  had  been  proposing  to  me 
to  join  them.  Anyhow,  they  had  evidently  settled 
among  themselves  that  I  was  to  be  put  out  of  the  way, 
and  directly  I  went  in  I  was  attacked.  I  knocked  down 
a  few  of  them,  but  they  jumped  on  my  back,  and  one  of 
them  managed  to  get  a  rope  round  my  legs,  and  down  I 
went  with  three  or  four  of  them,  and  before  I  could  get 


192  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

up  again  they  had  tied  and  gagged  me.  Then  they 
held  a  sort  of  court.  Man  after  man  got  up  and  said 
that  I  had  been  drawing  them  on  to  find  out  what  they 
were  up  to,  and  had  agreed  to  join  them,  of  course  with 
the  intention  of  getting  them  caught  in  the  act,  and  two 
got  up  and  said  that  they  knew  me  as  one  of  the  run- 
ners.    They  all  agreed  that  I  must  be  put  out  of  the  way. 

"  I  suppose,  as  the  landlord  did  not  want  blood  spilt 
in  his  house,  they  did  not  knife  me  at  once  ;  however, 
they  told  me  that  they  had  decided  that  as  soon  as  the 
coast  was  clear  I  should  be  carried  down  to  the  river 
and  chucked  in  with  an  old  anchor  tied  to  my  neck.  I 
had  just  a  gleam  of  hope  a  short  time  before  you  came 
in,  for  then  it  had  been  settled  that  it  was  just  as  well 
no  more  should  be  engaged  in  the  affair  than  was  neces- 
sary, and  that  Black  Jim,  with  two  others,  whom  I  had 
been  talking  to,  and  the  two  men  who  had  told  them 
that  I  was  a  runner,  should  manage  it,  and  the  rest  were 
to  go  off  to  their  homes. 

"  I  had  been  all  the  time  trying  to  loosen  my  ropes, 
and  had  got  one  of  my  hands  nearly  free,  and  I  thought 
that  if  they  waited  another  half-hour  I  might  have  got 
them  both  free,  and  been  able  to  make  a  bit  of  a  fight 
of  it,  though  I  had  very  little  hope  of  getting  my  legs 
free. 

"  However,  I  had  my  eye  on  the  knife  of  the  man 
who  was  sitting  next  to  me,  and  who  was  one  of  those 
who  was  to  stay.  I  thought  that  if  I  had  my  hands  free  I 
could  snatch  his  knife,  settle  him,  and  then  cut  the  ropes 
from  my  legs  ;  that  done,  I  could,  I  think,  have  man- 
aged Black  Jim  and  the  others.     As  for  the  men  who 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  193 

denounced  me,  they  were  small  men,  and  I  had  no  fear 
of  them  in  a  fight,  unless,  as  I  thought  likely  enough, 
they  might  have  pistols.  One  of  them  is  the  fellow 
whose  jaw  I  broke  ;  I  hit  him  hard,  for  he  had  a  pistol 
in  his  hand." 

"There  is  no  doubt  you  hit  him  hard,"  Gibbons  said, 
drily.      "  He  looked  a  better  sort  than  the  rest." 

"  Yes  ;  the  fellow  was  a  card -sharper  whom  I  once 
detected  at  cheating ;  and  so  was  the  one  who  was  lying 
next  to  him,  the  man  whom  you  said  you  thought  was 
shamming." 

By  this  time  the  men's  wounds  were  all  bandaged  up. 
Mark  told  them  that  he  would  be  round  there  again  in 
the  morning,  and  hoped  that  they  would  all  be  there. 

"I  shall  go  home  at  once  and  turn  in,"  he  said. 
"Straining  at  those  cords  has  taken  the  skin  off  my 
wrists,  and  I  feel  stiff  all  over.  It  will  be  a  day  or  two, 
Gibbons,  before  I  am  able  to  put  on  the  gloves  again. 
I  wish  I  could  find  that  Lascar.  I  owe  him  a  heavy 
debt." 

As  Mark  made  his  way  home  he  thought  a  good  deal 
about  the  coloured  sailor.  If-  the  man  had  been  in 
the  den,  the  ruffians  would  hardly  have  ventured  to 
attack  him  in  the  presence  of  a  stranger.  Of  course, 
he  might  have  been  passing,  and  have  seen  the  fray 
through  the  window,  but  in  that  case  he  would  run  to 
the  nearest  constable.  How  could  he  know  anything 
about  his  habits,  and  why  should  he  have  gone  to 
Gibbons  for  assistance  ?  That,  and  the  fact  that  he  had 
so  often  observed  Lascars  in  the  places  he  had  gone  to, 
certainly  looked  as  if  he  had  been  watched,  and,  if  so,  it 

13 


194  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

could  only  be  connected  with  those  diamonds.  It  was 
a  curious  thing  altogether. 

The  next  morning  he  went  early  to  Bow  Street  As 
soon  as  the  chief  came  he  related  the  events  of  the  pre- 
vious evening,  and  told  him  that  it  was  Flash  and  Emer- 
son who  had  denounced  him. 

"  I  know  the  place,"  the  officer  said.  "  It  is  one  of 
the  worst  thieves'  dens  in  London.  However,  it  is  just 
as  well  you  decided  not  to  take  any  steps.  Of  course, 
all  the  fellows  would  have  sworn  that  they  did  not  in- 
tend to  do  you  any  harm,  but  that  Flash  had  put  them 
up  to  frightening  you,  and  I  doubt  whether  any  jury 
would  have  convicted.  As  to  the  other  men,  we  know 
that  they  are  all  thieves  and  some  of  them  worse,  but  the 
mere  fact  that  they  proposed  to  you  to  join  them  in  their 
crimes  won't  do,  as  no  actual  crime  was  committed. 
However,  I  shall  have  the  gang  closely  watched,  and,  at 
any  rate,  you  had  better  leave  Westminster  alone ; 
someone  else  must  take  up  the  work  of  looking  for  that 
man  you  were  on  the  watch  for.  Anyhow,  you  had 
best  take  a  week's  rest ;  there  is  no  doubt  you  have  had 
a  very  narrow  escape.  It  is  strange  about  that  Lascar  ; 
he  might  not  have  cared  for  going  to  take  part  in  the 
fray,  but  you  would  have  thought  that  he  would  have 
waited  outside  to  get  a  reward  for  bringing  those  men  to 
your  rescue." 

As  Mark  did  not  care  to  tell  about  the  diamonds  till 
the  time  came  for  getting  them,  he  made  no  reply  be- 
yond expressing  an  agreement  with  the  chief's  surprise 
at  the  man  not  having  remained  to  the  end  of  the  fray. 
On  leaving  Bow  Street  he  went  up  to  Ingleston's.     The 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  195 

men  who  had  rescued  him  the  night  before  were  gath- 
ered there,  and  he  presented  each  of  them  with  a  cheque 
for  twenty-five  guineas. 

"  I  know  very  well,"  he  said,  "  that  you  had  no  thought 
of  reward  when  you  hurried  down  to  save  me,  but  that 
is  no  reason  why  I  should  not  show  my  gratitude  to  you 
for  the  service  you  have  rendered  me.  Some  of  you 
might  very  well  have  been  seriously  hurt,  if  not  killed,  by 
their  knives.  At  any  rate,  I  insist  upon  you  taking  it 
Money  is  always  useful,  you  know,  and  it  is  not  often 
so  well  earned  as  this." 

The  men  were  greatly  pleased,  and  Tring  said, — 

"Well,  sir,  if  you  get  into  another  scrape  you  may  be 
sure  that  you  can  count  upon  us." 

"  I  shall  try  and  not  get  into  any  more,"  Mark  laughed. 
"This  has  been  a  good  deal  more  serious  that  I  had 
bargained  for,  and  I  shall  be  very  careful  in  the  future." 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


"  'T^HE  burglary  season  seems  to  have  recommenced 
1^  in  earnest,"  Mark's  chief  said,  some  nine  months 
after  he  had  been  at  work.  "  For  a  time  there 
has  been  a  lull,  as  you  know,  but  I  have  had  three  re- 
ports this  week,  and  it  strikes  me  that  they  are  by  the 
same  hand  as  before  ;  of  course,  I  may  be  mistaken,  but 
they  are  done  in  a  similar  way,  the  only  difference  being 
that  there  is  ground  for  believing  that  only  one  man  is 
engaged  in  them.  I  fancy  the  fellow  that  you  are  after 
has  either  been  away  from  London  for  some  time  or  has 
been  keeping  very  quiet.  At  any  rate,  we  have  every 
ground  for  believing  that  he  keeps  himself  aloof  from 
London  thieves,  which  is  what  I  should  expect  from  such 
a  man.  If  one  has  nerve  enough  to  do  it,  there  is  noth- 
ing like  working  singly ;  when  two  or  three  men  are 
engaged,  there  is  always  the  risk  of  one  being  caught 
and  turning  queen's  evidence,  or  of  there  being  a  quarrel 
and  of  his  peaching  in  revenge. 

"  If  your  man  has  been  away  from  town,  he  has  cer- 
196 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  197 

tainly  not  been  working  any  one  district ;  of  course,  one 
gets  the  usual  number  of  reports  from  different  quarters, 
but,  although  burglaries  are  frequent  enough,  there  has 
been  no  complaint  of  a  sudden  increase  of  such  crimes, 
as  there  would  have  been,  judging  from  the  numerous 
daring  attempts  here,  had  Bastow  been  concerned ; 
therefore  I  feel  sure  he  has  been  living  quietly.  He 
would  have  his  mate's  share — that  man  you  shot,  you 
know — of  the  plunder  they  made  together ;  he  would 
know  that  after  that  affair  at  your  place  there  would  be 
a  vigilant  hunt  for  him,  and  it  is  likely  enough  that  he 
has  retired  altogether  from  business  for  a  time. 

"  However,  men  of  that  sort  can  never  stand  a  quiet 
life  long,  and  are  sure  sooner  or  later  to  take  to  their 
trade  again,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  its  excitement.  Now 
that  the  burglaries  have  begun  again,  I  shall  be  glad  if 
you  will  devote  yourself  entirely  to  this  business.  You 
have  served  a  good  apprenticeship,  and,  for  our  sake  as 
well  as  yours,  I  should  be  glad  for  you  to  have  it  in 
hand." 

"  I  shall  be  very  pleased  to  do  so,  sir.  Although  we 
do  not  know  where  he  is  to  be  found,  I  think  I  can  say 
that  it  is  not  in  the  slums  of  London.  It  seems  to  me 
that  he  may  be  quietly  settled  as  an  eminently  respect- 
able man  almost  under  our  noses.  He  may  show  him- 
self occasionally  at  fashionable  resorts,  and  may  be  a 
regular  attendant  at  horse-races.  He  would  not  run 
any  appreciable  risk  in  doing  so,  for  his  face  is  quite  un- 
known to  anyone  except  the  constables  who  were  present 
at  his  trial  ;  and  even  these  would  scarcely  be  likely  to 
recognise  him,  for  he  was  then  but  eighteen,  while  he  is 


198  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

now  six-  or  seven-and-twenty,  and  no  doubt  the  life  he 
has  led  must  have  changed  him  greatly." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you,"  the  chief  said.  "After  the 
first  hunt  for  him  was  over,  he  might  do  almost  anything 
without  running  much  risk.  Well,  I  put  the  matter  in 
your  hands,  and  leave  it  to  you  to  work  out  in  your  own 
way.  You  have  given  ample  proof  of  your  shrewdness 
and  pluck,  and  in  this  case  especially  I  know  that  you 
will  do  everything  that  is  possible.  Of  course,  you  will 
be  relieved  of  all  other  duties,  and  if  it  takes  you  months 
before  you  can  lay  hands  upon  him,  we  shall  consider  it 
time  well  spent  if  you  succeed  at  last.  From  time  to 
time  change  your  quarters,  but  let  me  know  your  address, 
so  that,  should  I  learn  anything  that  may  be  useful,  I  can 
communicate  with  you  at  once.  You  had  better  take 
another  name  than  that  by  which  you  are  known  in  the 
force.  I  shall  be  glad  if,  after  thinking  the  matter  over, 
you  will  write  me  a  few  lines  stating  what  you  propose 
to  do  in  the  first  place." 

Mark  went  to  his  lodgings  and  sat  there  for  some  time 
thinking  matters  over.  His  first  thought  was  to  attend 
the  races  for  a  time,  but  owing  to  the  number  of  people 
there,  and  his  own  ignorance  of  Bastow's  appearance,  he 
abandoned  that  idea,  and  determined  to  try  a  slower  but 
more  methodical  plan.  Coming  to  that  conclusion,  he 
put  on  his  hat  and  made  his  way  to  Mrs.  Cunningham's. 

"Well,  Mr.  Constable,"  Millicent  said,  saucily,  as  he 
entered,  "any  fresh  captures?" 

"  No,  I  think  that  I  have  for  the  present  done  with 
that  sort  of  thing ;  I  have  served  my  apprenticeship, 
and  am  now  setting  up  on  my  own  account." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  199 

"  How  is  that,  Mark?" 

"There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Bastow  has  begun 
his  work  again  near  London.  As  I  have  told  you,  it  is 
absolutely  certain  that  he  is  not  hiding  in  any  of  the 
places  frequented  by  criminals  here,  and  there  is  every 
reason  for  supposing  that  he  has  been  leading  a  quiet 
life  somewhere,  or  that  he  has  been  away  in  the  country. 
As  long  as  that  was  the  case,  there  was  nothing  to  be 
done  ;  but  now  that  he  seems  to  have  set  to  work  again, 
it  is  time  for  me  to  be  on  the  move.  I  have  seen  the 
chief  this  morning,  and  he  has  released  me  from  all 
other  duty  and  given  me  carte  blanche  to  work  in  my 
own  way." 

"Then  why  don't  you  leave  the  force  altogether, 
Mark  ?  You  know  that  I  have  always  thought  it  hate- 
ful that  you  should  be  working  under  orders,  like  any 
other  constable." 

"  Of  course,  women  don't  like  to  be  under  orders 
Millicent ;  but  men  are  not  so  independent,  and  are 
quite  content  to  obey  those  who  are  well  qualified  to 
give  orders.     I  have  had  a  very  interesting  time  of  it." 

"Very  interesting!"  she  said,  scornfully.  "You 
have  been  nearly  killed  or  shot  half  a  dozen  times  ; 
you  have  been  obliged  to  wear  all  sorts  of  dirty  clothes, 
to  sleep  in  places  where  one  would  not  put  a  dog,  and 
generally  to  do  all  sorts  of  things  altogether  unbecoming 
in  your  position." 

"  My  dear,  I  have  no  particular  position,"  he  laughed, 
and  then  went  on  more  seriously  :  "  My  one  position  at 
present  is  that  of  avenger  of  my  father's  murder,  and 
nothing  that  can  assist  me  in  the  task  is  unbecoming  to 


200       ,    THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

me ;  but,  as  I  said,  it  has  been  interesting,  I  may  almost 
say  fascinating  work.  I  used  to  be  fond  of  hunting, 
but  I  can  tell  you  that  it  is  infinitely  more  exciting  to 
hunt  a  man  than  it  is  to  hunt  a  fox.  You  are  your 
own  hound,  you  have  to  pick  up  the  scent,  to  follow  it 
up,  however  much  the  quarry  may  wind  and  double, 
and  when  at  last  you  lay  your  hand  upon  his  shoulder 
and  say,  '  In  the  king's  name,'  there  is  an  infinitely 
keener  pleasure  than  there  is  when  the  hounds  run 
down  the  fox.  One  sport  is  perhaps  as  dangerous  as 
the  other :  in  the  one  case  your  horse  may  fail  at  a  leap 
and  you  may  break  your  neck,  in  the  other  you  may 
get  a  bullet  in  your  head  ;  so  in  that  respect  there  is 
not  much  to  choose  between  man-hunting  and  fox- 
hunting. There  is  the  advantage,  though,  that  in  the 
one  you  have  to  depend  upon  your  horse's  strength,  and 
in  the  other  on  your  own  courage." 

"  I  know  that  you  are  an  enthusiast  over  it,  Mark,  and 
I  can  fancy  that  if  I  were  a  big,  strong  man,  as  you  are,  I 
might  do  the  same  ;  but  if  you  are  going  now  to  try  by 
yourself,  why  should  you  not  leave  the  force  altogether?" 

"  Because,  in  the  first  place,  I  shall  get  all  the  infor- 
mation they  obtain,  and  can  send  for  any  assistance  that 
I  may  require.  In  the  next  place,  by  showing  this  little 
staff  with  its  silver  crown,  I  show  that  I  am  a  Bow  Street 
runner,  and  can  obtain  information  at  once  from  all  sorts 
of  people  which  I  could  not  get  without  its  aid." 

"  Well,  I  won't  say  anything  more  against  it,  Mark. 
How  are  you  going  to  begin?" 

"  I  mean  to  go  the  round  of  all  the  places  near  Lon- 
don, say  within  ten  miles.     I  shall  stay  from  a  week  to 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  201 

a  fortnight  in  each,  take  a  quiet  lodging,  give  out  that  I 
am  on  the  lookout  for  a  small  house  with  a  garden,  and 
get  to  talk  with  people  of  all  kinds." 

"But  I  cannot  see  what  you  have  to  enquire  for." 

"  I  imagine  that  Bastow  will  have  taken  just  the  sort 
of  house  that  I  am  enquiring  for,  and  in  the  course  of 
my  questions  I  may  hear  of  someone  living  in  just  that 
sort  of  way, — a  retired  life,  not  making  many  friends, 
riding  up  to  London  sometimes,  and  keeping,  perhaps, 
a  deaf  old  woman  as  a  servant,  or  perhaps  a  deaf  old 
man  ;  someone,  you  see,  who  would  not  be  likely  to 
hear  him  if  he  came  home  in  the  middle  of  the  night, 
or  in  the  early  morning.  Once  I  hear  of  such  a  man, 
I  should  ascertain  his  age,  and  whether  generally  he 
agreed  in  appearance  with  what  Bastow  is  likely  to  be 
by  this  time  ;  then  get  down  one  of  the  constables  who 
was  at  the  trial,  and  take  his  opinion  on  the  subject,  after 
which  we  should  only  have  to  watch  the  house  at  night 
and  pounce  upon  him  as  he  came  back  from  one  of  his 
excursions.  That  is  the  broad  outline  of  my  plan.  I 
cannot  help  thinking  that  in  the  long  run  I  shall  be  able 
to  trace  him,  and  of  course  it  will  make  it  all  the  easier 
if  he  takes  to  stopping  coaches  or  committing  murderous 
burglaries." 

"  Then  I  suppose  we  are  not  going  to  see  you  often, 
Mark?" 

"  Well,  not  so  often  as  you  have  done,  Millicent,  for 
some  time,  at  any  rate.  I  shall  not  be  more  than  five  or 
six  miles  away,  and  I  shall  often  ride  into  town  for  the 
evening,  and  return  late  with  some  sort  of  hope  that  I 
may  be  stopped  on  the  road  again  ;  it  would  save  me  a 


202  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

world  of  trouble,  you  see,  if  he  would  come  to  me  in- 
stead of  my  having  to  find  him." 

"Which  side  of  London  are  you  going  to  try  first?" 
"  The  south  side,  certainly ;  there  are  a  score  of 
places  that  would  be  convenient  to  him, — Dulwich, 
Clapham,  Tooting,  Wimbledon,  Stockwell ;  the  list  is  a 
long  one.  I  should  say  Wimbledon  was  about  the  most 
distant,  and  I  should  think  that  he  would  not  go  so  far 
as  that  ;  if  he  only  acts  as  a  highwayman  he  might  be  as 
far  off  as  Epsom  ;  but  if  he  is  really  the  man  concerned 
in  these  burglaries  he  must  be  but  a  short  distance  away. 
He  would  hardly  risk  having  to  ride  very  far  with  the 
chance  of  coming  upon  the  patrols.  I  think  that  I  shall 
begin  at  Peckham  ;  that  is  a  central  sort  of  position, 
and  from  there  I  shall  work  gradually  west ;  before  I 
do  so,  perhaps  I  shall  try  Lewisham.  He  is  likely,  in 
any  case,  to  be  quite  on  the  outskirts  of  any  village  he 
may  have  settled  in,  in  order  that  he  may  ride  in  and 
out  at  any  hour  without  his  coming  and  going  being 
noticed." 

"You  certainly  seem  to  have  thought  it  over  in  all 
ways,  Mark  ;  you  almost  infect  me  with  your  ardour, 
and  make  me  wish  that  I  were  a  man  and  could  help 
you." 

"You  are  much  nicer  as  you  are,  Millicent." 
The  girl  tossed  her  head  in  disdain  at  the  compli- 
ment. 

"It  is  all  very  well,  Mark,"  she  went  on,  ignoring  his 
speech,  "  but  it  seems  to  me  that,  in  finding  out  things, 
a  woman  would  be  able  to  do  just  as  much  as  a  man  ; 
she    can   gossip   with    her    neighbours   and    ask    about 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  203 

everyone  in  a  place  quite  as  well,  if  not  better,  than  a 
man." 

"Yes,  I  don't  doubt  that,"  Mark  laughed,  "and  if  I 
want  your  aid  I  shall  have  no  hesitation  in  asking  for  it 
Until  then  I  hope  you  will  go  on  with  your  painting 
and  harping,  steadily,  like  a  good  little  girl." 

"  I  am  nearly  eighteen,  sir,  and  I  object  to  be  called 
a  good  little  girl." 

"  Well,  if  I  were  to  say  a  good  young  woman,  you 
would  not  like  it" 

"  No,  I  don't  think  I  should.  I  don't  know  why, 
but  when  anyone  says  a  girl  is  a  good  young  woman  or 
a  nice  young  woman,  there  always  seems  something 
derogatory  about  it ;  it  is  almost  as  bad  as  saying  she 
is  a  very  respectable  young  person,  which  is  odious." 

"Then,  you  see,"  he  went  on,  "you  are  quite  getting 
on  in  society ;  since  Mr.  Cotter's  introduction  to  Mrs. 
Cunningham  and  his  mother's  subsequent  call  you  have 
got  to  know  a  good  many  people  and  go  about  a  good 
deal." 

"Yes,  it  has  been  more  lively  of  late,"  she  admitted. 
"At  first  it  was  certainly  monstrously  dull  here,  and  I 
began  to  think  that  we  should  have  to  change  our  plans 
and  go  down  again  to  Weymouth,  and  settle  there  for 
a  time.  Now  I  am  getting  contented  ;  but  I  admit  that, 
even  at  the  risk  of  making  you  conceited,  we  shall  cer- 
tainly miss  you  very  much,  as  you  have  been  very  good, 
considering  how  busy  you  have  been,  to  come  in  three 
or  four  evenings  every  week  for  a  chat" 

"  There  has  been  nothing  very  good  about  it,  MilH- 
cent ;  it  has  been  very  pleasant  to  me  ;  it  is  like  a  bit  of 


204  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

old  times  again  when  I  am  here  with  you  two,  and  one 
seems  to  have  left  all  the  excitement  of  one's  work 
behind  as  one  comes  in  at  the  door." 

"  I  wonder  whether  the  old  time  will  ever  come  back 
again,  Mark,"  she  said,  sadly. 

"  It  never  can  be  quite  the  old  time  again,  but  when 
you  are  back  at  the  old  place  it  may  be  very  near  it." 

She  looked  at  him  reproachfully. 

"  You  think  that  I  shall  change  my  mind,  Mark,  but 
at  heart  you  know  better.  The  day  I  am  one-and- 
twenty  I  hope  to  carry  out  my  intentions." 

"  Well,  as  I  have  told  you  before,  Millicent,  I  cannot 
control  your  actions,  but  I  am  at  least  master  of  my 
own.  You  can  give  away  Crowswood  to  whom  you 
like,  but  at  least  you  cannot  compel  me  to  take  it  ; 
make  it  over  to  one  of  the  hospitals  if  you  like,  that  is 
within  your  power,  but  it  is  not  in  your  power  to  force 
me  into  the  mean  action  of  enriching  myself  because 
you  have  romantic  notions  in  your  mind.  I  should 
scorn  myself  were  I  capable  of  doing  such  an  action. 
I  wonder  you  think  so  meanly  of  me  as  to  suppose  for 
a  moment  that  I  would  do  so." 

"  It  is  a  great  pity  my  father  did  not  leave  the 
property  outright  to  your  father,  then  all  this  bother 
would  have  been  avoided,"  she  said,  quietly.  "I 
should  still  have  had  plenty  to  Hve  upon  without 
there  being  any  fear  of  being  loved  merely  for  my 
money." 

"  It  would  have  been  the  same  thing  if  he  had,"  Mark 
said,  stubbornly.  "  My  father  would  not  have  taken  it, 
and  I  am  sure  that  I  should  not  have  taken  it  after  him. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  205 

You  are  his  proper  heiress.  I  don't  say,  if  he  had  left  a 
son,  and  that  son  had  been  a  second  Bastow,  that  one 
would  have  hesitated,  for  he  would  probably  have  gam- 
bled it  away  in  a  year,  the  tenants  might  have  been 
ruined,  and  the  village  gone  to  the  dogs.  Every  man 
has  a  right  to  disinherit  an  unworthy  son,  but  that  is  a 
very  different  thing  from  disinheriting  a  daughter  simply 
from  a  whim.  Well,  don't  let  us  talk  about  it  any  more, 
Millicent  It  is  the  only  thing  that  we  don't  agree  about, 
and  therefore  it  is  best  left  alone." 

The  next  day  Mark  established  himself  at  an  inn  in 
Peckham,  and  for  six  weeks  made  diligent  enquiries,  but 
without  success.  There  were  at  least  a  dozen  men  who 
lived  quietly  and  rode  or  drove  to  their  business  in  town. 
Many  of  them  were  put  aside  as  needing  no  investiga- 
tion, having  been  residents  there  for  years.  Some  of  the 
others  he  saw  start  or  return,  but  none  of  them  corre- 
sponded in  any  way  with  the  probable  appearance  of  the 
man  for  whom  he  was  in  search.  During  this  time  he 
heard  of  several  private  coaches  being  held  up  on  the 
road  between  Epsom  and  London,  and  three  burglaries 
took  place  at  Streatham. 

He  then  moved  to  Stockwell.  Before  proceeding 
there  he  had  his  horse  up  again  from  Crowswood  and 
rode  into  Stockwell  from  the  west.  He  was  dressed 
now  as  a  small  country  squire,  and  had  a  valise 
strapped  behind  his  saddle.  The  inn  there  was  a  busy 
one. 

"I  want  a  room,"  he  said,  as  he  alighted.  "I  shall 
probably  stay  here  a  few  days." 

Presently  he  had  a  talk  with  the  landlord. 


2o6  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  I  am  on  the  lookout,"  he  said,  "for  a  little  place 
near  town.  I  have  come  in  for  a  small  estate  in  the 
country,  but  I  have  no  taste  for  farming,  and  want  to  be 
within  easy  reach  of  town,  and  at  the  same  time  to  have 
a  place  with  a  paddock  where  I  can  keep  my  horse  and 
live  quietly,  I  don't  much  care  whether  it  is  here  or 
anywhere  else  within  a  few  miles  of  town,  and  I  intend 
to  ride  about  and  see  if  I  can  find  a  place  that  will  suit 
me.  I  should  not  like  to  be  nearer  the  town  than  this, 
for  I  have  not  money  enough  to  go  the  pace  ;  still,  I 
should  like  to  be  near  enough  to  ride  or  walk  in  when- 
ever I  have  a  fancy  for  it," 

"I  understand,  sir.  Of  course  there  are  plenty  of 
places  round  here,  at  Clapham  and  Tooting,  and  I  may 
say  Streatham,  but  most  of  them  are  a  deal  too  large  for 
a  bachelor  ;  still,  I  have  no  doubt  you  would  find  a  place 
to  suit  you  without  much  difficulty.  These  sort  of  places 
are  most  in  request  by  London  tradesmen  who  have 
given  up  business  and  want  to  get  a  little  way  out  of 
town  and  keep  a  gig.  I  should  say  there  must  be  a 
score  of  such  people  living  round  here,  I  am  often 
asked  about  such  places,  but  I  don't  know  of  one  to  let 
just  at  the  present  moment. 

"  Still,  there  ought  to  be,  for  of  late  people  have  not 
cared  so  much  to  come  out  here  ;  there  has  been  such  a 
scare  owing  to  highwaymen  and  burglars  that  men  with 
wives  and  families  don't  fancy  settling  out  of  town, 
though  there  ain't  much  risk  about  it,  for  to  every  one 
house  that  is  broken  into  there  are  thousands  that  are 
not,  and,  besides,  the  houses  that  these  fellows  try  are 
large  places,  where  there  is  plenty  of  silver  plate  and 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  207 

a  few  gold  watches,  and  perhaps  some  money,  to  be 
had." 

Mark  soon  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  stablemen, 
and  a  few  pints  of  beer  put  them  on  good  terms  with 
him.  Every  day  he  took  rides  round  the  neighbour- 
hood, going  out  early,  stabling  his  horse,  and  after 
having  a  chat  with  the  ostlers,  strolled  round  the  place. 
Clapham,  Ewell,  and  Streatham  were  also  visited. 

"I  know  of  a  place  that  would  just  suit  you,"  the 
ostler  at  the  Greyhound  at  Streatham  said  to  him,  on 
the  occasion  of  his  third  visit  there,  "  but  it  is  let ;  my 
old  mother  is  the  gentleman's  housekeeper.  He  took 
the  place  through  me,  for  he  rode  up  just  as  you  have 
done,  one  afternoon,  nigh  a  year  ago.  He  was  from 
town,  he  was ;  he  told  me  that  he  had  been  going  the 
pace  too  hard  and  had  to  pull  in,  and  wanted  a  little 
place  where  he  could  keep  his  horse  and  live  quiet  for  a 
time.  I  told  him  of  a  place  that  I  thought  would  suit 
him  just  outside  the  town,  and  he  called  in  the  next 
day  and  told  me  that  he  had  taken  it.  '  Now,'  he  said, 
'  I  want  a  woman  as  housekeeper ;  an  old  woman,  you 
know.  I  cannot  be  bothered  with  a  young  'un.  If 
you  speak  to  a  wench  she  is  soon  fancying  that  you 
are  in  love  with  her.  I  want  one  who  can  cook  a 
chop  or  a  steak,  fry  me  a  bit  of  bacon,  and  boil  an  egg 
and  keep  the  place  tidy.  I  intend  to  look  after  my 
horse  myself 

"  'Well,  sir,'  I  said,  'there  is  my  old  mother.  She  is 
a  widow,  and  it  is  as  much  as  she  can  do  to  keep  off 
the  parish.  She  is  reckoned  a  tidy  cook  and  a  good 
cleaner,  and  she  could  keep  herself  well  enough  if  it 


2o8  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

wasn't  that  she  is  so  hard  of  hearing  that  many  people 
don't  care  to  employ  her.' 

" '  I  don't  care  a  rap  about  that,'  he  said.  '  I  shall 
not  need  to  talk  to  her  except  to  tell  her  what  I  will 
have  for  dinner,  and  if  she  is  deaf  she  won't  want  to  be 
away  gossiping.     Does  she  live  near  here  ?' 

"  '  She  lives  in  the  town,'  I  said.  '  I  can  fetch  her 
down  in  half  an  hour.' 

"  '  That  will  do,'  says  he.  '  I  am  going  to  have  lunch. 
When  I  have  done  I  will  come  out  and  speak  with 
her.' 

"Well,  sir,  he  engaged  her  right  off,  and  he  tipped 
me  a  guinea  for  finding  the  place  for  him,  and  there  he 
has  been  ever  since.  It  was  a  lucky  job  for  mother,  for 
she  says  there  never  was  a  gentleman  that  gave  less 
trouble.  He  is  a  wonderful  quiet  man,  and  in  general 
stops  at  home  all  the  day  smoking  and  reading.  He 
has  a  boy  come  in  two  or  three  times  a  week  to  work 
in  the  garden.  Sometimes  of  an  evening  he  rides  up 
to  town.  I  expect  he  cannot  keep  away  from  the  cards 
altogether." 

"Is  he  an  elderly  man?"  Mark  asked. 

"  Lor',  no,  sir ;  under  thirty,  I  should  say.  He  is  a 
free-handed  sort  of  chap,  and  though  he  ain't  particu- 
lar about  his  eating,  he  likes  a  bottle  of  good  wine,  the 
old  woman  says,  even  if  it  is  only  with  a  chop.  He 
never  rides  past  here  and  I  happen  to  be  outside  with- 
out tossing  me  a  shilling  to  drink  his  health." 

Mark  went  into  the  house  and  ordered  lunch.      It 

would  not  have  done  to  have  cisked  any  more  questions 

^  or  to  have  shown  any  special  interest  in  the  matter,  but 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  209 

he  felt  so  excited  that  he  could  not  have  avoided  doing 
so  had  he  waited  longer  with  the  ostler.  After  he 
had  finished  his  meal  he  strolled  out  again  into  the 
stable  yard. 

"Well,"  he  said  to  the  ostler,  "can't  you  put  me  up 
to  another  good  thing,  just  as  you  told  that  gentleman 
you  were  speaking  to  me  about?" 

"  There  are  two  or  three  places  that  I  know  of  that 
might  suit  you,  sir.  There  is  a  house  on  the  hill.  I 
know  that  it  has  got  a  paddock,  but  I  don't  know  how 
big  it  is  ;  it  is  in  general  known  as  Hawleys,  that  is  the 
name  of  the  last  people  who  lived  there.  Anyone  will 
tell  you  which  is  the  house.  Then  there  is  another 
place.  You  turn  to.  the  right  the  third  turning  on  the 
hill ;  it  stands  by  itself  two  or  three  hundred  yards 
down  ;  it  has  got  a  goodish  bit  of  ground.  There  is 
only  one  house  beyond  it ;  that  is  the  one  where  my 
mother  lives.  That  was  an  old  farm  once,  but  this  was 
built  later.  I  believe  the  ground  belonged  to  the  farm  ; 
you  will  know  it  by  a  big  tree  in  front  of  it ;  it  stands 
back  forty  feet  or  so  from  the  road." 

"Where  does  the  road  lead  to?" 

"Well,  sir,  it  ain't  much  of  a  road  beyond  the  next 
house  :  it  is  only  a  lane,  but  you  can  get  through  that 
way  into  the  main  road,  through  Tooting  down  into 
Balham,  and  on  to  Wimbledon." 

"  I  think  I  will  go  and  have  a  look  at  both  those 
places,"  Mark  said. 

"  Will  you  take  your  horse,  sir?" 

"  No,  I  suppose  it  is  not  much  above  half  a  mile." 

"About  that,  sir." 


2IO  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  Then  I  will  walk  ;  I  shall  not  be  likely  to  find  any- 
one to  hold  my  horse  there." 

Mark  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  the  house.  It  looked 
as  if  it  had  been  untenanted  for  some  time,  and  in  the 
window  was  a  notice  that  for  keys  and  information  ap- 
plications were  to  be  made  at  a  shop  in  the  High  Street. 
Well  pleased  to  find  that  there  was  no  one  in  the  house, 
Mark  entered  the  gate  and  passed  round  into  what  at 
one  time  had  been  a  kitchen-garden  behind  it ;  at  the 
bottom  of  this  was  a  field  of  three  or  four  acres. 

The  ground  was  separated  by  a  hedge  from  that  of 
the  next  house  beyond.  This  was  fully  a  hundred  yards 
away.  A  well-bred  horse  was  grazing  in  the  field  ;  a  man 
smoking  a  pipe  was  watching  a  boy  doing  gardening 
work  behind  the  house.  Mark  remained  for  nearly  an 
hour  concealed  behind  the  hedge  in  hopes  that  he  would 
come  nearer.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  however,  he 
went  into  the  house,  and  after  waiting  another  ten  min- 
utes Mark  also  left,  resisting  the  temptation  to  walk 
along  the  road  and  take  a  closer  look  at  it,  for  he  felt 
that  such  a  step  would  be  dangerous,  for  should  the 
man  notice  anyone  looking  at  the  place  his  suspicions 
might  be  aroused. 

It  was  evident  that  the  lane  was  very  little  used  ;  in 
many  cases  the  grass  grew  across  it.  There  were  marks 
of  horse's  feet,  but  none  of  wheels,  and  he  concluded 
that  when  going  up  to  town  the  man  came  that  way  and 
rode  quietly  through  Streatham,  for  the  hoof-prints  all 
pointed  in  that  direction,  and  that  on  his  return  at  night 
he  came  up  the  lane  from  the  other  road. 

"Well,  master,  what  do  you  think  of  the  houses?" 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  211 

'•  I  have  only  been  to  the  one  in  the  lane  that  you 
spoke  of,  for  I  want  to  get  back  to  town.  I  had  a  good 
look  at  it,  but  it  is  rather  a  dreary-looking  place,  and 
evidently  wants  a  lot  of  repairs  before  it  can  be  made 
comfortable.  The  next  time  that  I  am  down  I  will  look 
at  the  other." 

Mounting  his  horse,  he  rode  at  a  rapid  pace  into  Lon- 
don, and  dismounted  at  Bow  Street. 

"You  have  news,  I  see,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  chief 
said,  when  he  entered. 

"  I  have,  sir ;  I  believe  that  I  have  marked  the  man 
down  ;  at  any  rate,  if  it  is  not  he,  it  is  a  criminal  of  some 
sort — of  that  I  have  no  doubt." 

"That  is  good  news,  indeed,"  the  chief  said.  "Now 
tell  me  all  about  it." 

Mark  repeated  the  story  the  ostler  had  told  him,  and 
the  result  of  his  own  observations. 

"You  see,"  he  said,  "the  man,  whether  Bastow  or 
not,  has  clearly  taken  the  place  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
cealment, for  he  can  approach  it  by  the  lane,  which  is  a 
very  unfrequented  one,  on  his  return  from  his  expedi- 
tions. He  has  taken  on  a  deaf  old  woman,  who  will  not 
hear  him  ride  in  at  night,  and  will  have  no  idea  at  what 
hours  he  comes  home.  Riding  out  through  the  main 
street  in  the  afternoon  he  would  excite  no  notice,  and 
the  story  to  the  ostler  would  very  well  account  for  his 
taking  the  house  and  for  his  habit  of  coming  up  here  of 
an  afternoon  and  returning  late.  I  thought  it  best  to 
come  back  and  tell  you,  and  I  will  adopt  any  plan  that 
you  suggest  for  his  capture." 

"  You  say  that  he  has  been  there  for  nearly  a  year?" 


212  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"About  a  year,  the  ostler  said." 

"Then  one  of  my  men,  at  least,  must  have  been  very 
careless  not  to  have  found  him  out  long  ago.  Let 
me  see."  And  he  took  down  a  volume  of  reports. 
"Streatham.  TomHnson  has  been  here  a  fortnight 
making  every  enquiry.  '  No  man  of  suspicious  appear- 
ance or  of  unknown  antecedents  here.'  Humph  !  That 
is  not  the  first  time  that  Tomlinson  has  failed  altogether 
in  his  duty.  However,  that  does  not  matter  for  the 
moment.     What  is  your  own  idea,  Mr.  Thorndyke  ?" 

"  My  idea  is  that  a  couple  of  good  men  should  go  down 
with  me  to  Streatham,  and  that  we  should  be  always  on 
the  watch  in  High  Street  until  we  see  him  ride  past. 
Directly  it  is  dark  we  will  go  to  his  house,  fasten  the  old 
woman  up,  and  search  it  thoroughly.  If  we  find  stolen 
property,  so  much  the  better ;  but  in  any  case  we  shall 
wait  inside  the  house  until  he  returns,  and  as  he  comes 
in  throw  ourselves  upon  him  before  he  has  time  to  draw 
a  pistol.  I  should  say  it  would  be  as  well  the  men 
should  go  down  in  a  trap.  There  is  an  empty  house 
next  door,  and  when  we  go  to  search  the  place  we  can 
leave  the  horse  and  trap  inside  the  gate.  Directly  we 
have  him  secure  we  can  fetch  up  the  trap,  put  him  in, 
and  one  of  the  men  and  myself  can  drive  him  back  here, 
leaving  the  other  in  charge  of  the  house,  which  can  then 
be  searched  again  next  day." 

"  I  think  that  will  be  a  very  good  plan,  and  will  avoid 
all  unnecessary  fuss.  I  will  send  Malcolm  and  Chester 
down  with  you  to-morrow.    Where  will  you  meet  them  ?" 

"I  should  say  that  they  had  better  put  up  at  the 
Greyhound.     I  don't  suppose  he  will  go  out  until  six  or 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  213 

seven  o'clock,  but  they  had  better  be  there  earlier.  One 
should  station  himself  in  the  main  street,  the  other  con- 
cealing himself  somewhere  beyond  the  fellow's  house, 
for  it  is  likely  enough  that  sometimes  he  may  take  the 
other  way,  I  will  go  down  to  the  Greyhound  at  six, 
and  will  wait  there  until  one  of  them  brings  me  the  news 
that  he  has  left." 

"  I  think  you  had  better  come  in  in  the  morning,  and 
give  your  instructions  to  the  men  ;  there  will  be  less  fear 
of  any  mistake  being  made.  I  should  say  you  had  bet- 
ter come  in  on  foot ;  one  can  never  be  too  careful  when 
one  is  dealing  with  so  crafty  a  rogije  as  this  ;  he  cer- 
tainly does  not  work  with  an  accomplice  ;  but,  for  all 
that,  he  may  have  two  or  three  sharp  boys  in  his  pay, 
and  they  may  watch  this  place  by  turns  and  carry  him 
news  of  any  stir  about  the  office." 

"I  will  walk  in,"  Mark  replied.  "It  is  no  distance 
from  Stockwell." 

Mark  slept  but  little  that  night.  He  had  believed  all 
along  that  he  should  be  finally  successful,  but  the  dis- 
covery had  come  so  suddenly  that  it  had  taken  him  com- 
pletely by  surprise.  It  might  not  be  the  man,  and  he 
tried  hard  to  persuade  himself  that  the  chances  were 
against  his  being  so,  so  that  he  should  not  feel  disap- 
pointed should  it  turn  out  that  it  was  some  other  crimi- 
nal, for  that  the  man  was  a  criminal  he  had  not  a  shadow 
of  doubt. 

The  next  morning  he  was  at  the  office  early.  The 
chief  arrived  half  an  hour  later,  and  the  two  officers  were 
at  once  called  in. 

"  You  will  go  with  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  chief  said, 


214  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  and  he  will  give  you  instructions.  The  capture  is  a 
very  important  one,  and  there  must  be  no  mistake  made. 
We  believe  the  man  to  be  Bastow.  I  think  you  were 
present  at  his  trial,  Chester ;  he  escaped  from  Sydney 
Convict  Prison  some  three  years  ago,  and  is,  I  believe, 
the  author  of  many  of  the  highway  robberies  and  bur- 
glaries that  have  puzzled  us  so.  Of  course,  you  will 
take  fire-arms,  but  if  he  is  alone  you  will  certainly  have 
no  occasion  to  use  them,  especially  as  you  will  take  him 
completely  by  surprise.  You  will  order  a  gig  from 
Morden  and  leave  here  about  three  o'clock.  I  should 
say  you  had  better  get  up  as  two  countrymen,  who  have 
been  up  to  market.  However,  Mr.  Thorndyke  will  ex- 
plain the  whole  matter  to  you  fully." 

Mark  then  went  off  with  the  two  officers  to  a  private 
room,  and  went  into  the  whole  matter  with  them. 

"I  think,  Chester,"  he  said,  "that  you  had  better 
watch  in  the  High  Street,  because  you  know  the  man. 
At  least,  you  have  seen  him,  and  may  recognise  him 
again." 

"  I  think  I  should  know  him,  however  much  he  has 
changed.  I  took  particular  notice  of  him  at  the  trial, 
and  thought  what  a  hardened-looking  scamp  he  was.  It 
is  very  seldom  I  forget  a  face  when  I  once  have  a  good 
look  at  it,  and  I  don't  think  I  am  likely  to  forget  his." 

"  Malcolm,  I  think  you  cannot  do  better  than  take 
your  place  in  the  garden  of  the  house  next  to  his  ;  it  is 
a  place  that  has  stood  empty  for  many  months,  and 
there  is  no  chance  of  anyone  seeing  you.  His  paddock 
comes  up  to  the  garden,  and  you  can,  by  placing  your- 
self in  the  corner,  see  him  as  he  comes  out  into  the 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  215 

lane.  As  soon  as  you  see  that  he  has  gone,  come  back 
to  the  Greyhound  with  the  news.  I  shall  be  there,  and 
you  will  pick  up  Chester  in  the  High  Street  as  you 
come  along ;  of  course  you  won't  pretend  to  know  me, 
but  the  mere  fact  of  your  coming  back  will  be  enough 
to  tell  me  that  he  has  gone.  As  soon  as  it  gets  dark  you 
will  pay  your  reckoning  and  drive  off  in  the  gig ;  lead 
it  into  the  drive  in  front  of  the  house  this  side  of  his. 
I  shall  have  strolled  off  before,  and  shall  be  waiting  for 
you  there.  If  he  does  not  come  out  by  ten  o'clock, 
we  can  give  it  up  for  to-night  You  had  better  say 
that  you  have  changed  your  mind  and  will  take  beds 
at  the  Greyhound  ;  and  the  next  morning  drive  off  in 
your  gig  and  put  up  again  at  the  inn  at  the  other  end 
of  the  town,  the  White  Horse.  I  will  come  over  again 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  You  will  bring  hand- 
cuffs, and  you  had  better  also  bring  a  stout  rope  to  tie 
him  with." 

When  every  detail  had  been  arranged  Mark  strolled 
to  Dick  Chetwynd's  lodgings. 

"  Well,  Mark,  what  has  become  of  you  ?  I  have  not 
seen  you  for  the  last  two  months,  and  I  hear  that  you 
have  not  been  near  Ingleston's  crib  since  I  saw  you." 

"  No,  I  have  been  away  on  business.  You  know  I 
told  you  that  I  was  spending  much  of  my  time  in  en- 
deavouring to  hunt  down  my  father's  murderer.  I  can 
tell  you  now  that  I  have  been  working  all  the  time  with 
the  Bow  Street  people,  and  I  think  I  know  every  thieves' 
slum  in  London  as  well  as  any  constable  in  the  town." 

"You  don't  say  so,  Mark.  Well,  I  should  not  like 
such  work   cis   that.       The   prize-fighters   are  a  pretty 


2i6  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

rough  lot,  but  to  go  to  such  dens  as  those  is  enough  to 
make  one  shudder.  But  that  does  not  explain  where 
you  have  been  now," 

"  No.  Well,  having  persuaded  myself  at  last  that 
his  head-quarters  were  not  in  town,  I  have  been  trying 
the  villages  round,  and  I  believe  that  I  have  laid  my 
hands  on  him  at  last" 

"  You  don't  say  so,  Mark.  Well,  I  congratulate  you 
heartily,  both  on  your  having  caught  the  fellow  and  for 
having  got  rid  of  such  horrid  work.  Where  is  he? 
Have  you  got  him  lodged  in  gaol  ?" 

"  No,  we  are  going  to  capture  him  to-night ;  or  if  not 
to-night,  to-morrow  night.  Two  of  the  Bow  Street 
officers  are  going  down  with  me,  and  we  shall  have 
him  as  he  comes  home  from  one  of  his  expeditions 
either  on  the  highway  or  as  a  housebreaker.  If  he 
does  not  go  this  evening  we  shall  wait  until  to-morrow, 
but,  at  any  rate,  the  first  time  that  he  goes  out  we  shall 
have  him." 

"  I  have  got  a  special  engagement  for  this  evening, 
Mark,  or  I  would  offer  to  go  with  you  and  lend  you  a 
hand,  if  necessary." 

"There  is  no  occasion  for  that,  Dick.  We  shall 
take  the  fellow  by  surprise  as  he  goes  into  his  own 
house,  and  have  him  handcuffed  before  he  can  draw  a 
pistol.  Then,  when  we  have  got  him  fairly  tied  up,  we 
shall  put  him  into  a  light  cart  that  we  shall  have  handy 
and  bring  him  straight  to  Bow  Street.  To  tell  you  the 
truth,  I  am  so  excited  over  the  thought  that  I  do  not 
know  how  I  should  have  got  through  the  day  if  I  had 
not  come  in  to  have  a  chat  with  you." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  217 

"  I  can  quite  understand  that,  old  fellow.  Well,  the 
best  thing  we  can  do  is  to  take  a  stroll  out  and  look  at 
the  fashions.  It  is  early  yet,  but  just  at  present  it  is  all 
the  rage  to  turn  out  early.  It  will  do  me  good  too,  for 
I  was  at  Ingleston's  last  night,  and  the  smoke  and  row 
has  given  me  a  headache.  I  shall  really  have  to  give 
up  going  there,  except  when  there  is  an  important  fight 
on.  It  is  too  much  to  stand,  and  the  tobacco  is  so  bad 
that  I  am  obliged  to  keep  a  suit  of  clothes  for  the  pur- 
pose.    Let  us  be  off  at  once." 


CHAPTER     XV. 

AT  four  o'clock  Mark  put  up  his  horse  at  the  Grey- 
^  hound,  and  chatted  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  with 
the  ostler,  who  had  been  making  enquiries,  and 
had  heard  of  one  or  two  other  houses  in  the  neighbour- 
hood which  were  untenanted.  Mark  then  strolled  up 
the  town,  exchanging  a  passing  glance  with  Chester, 
who,  in  a  velveteen  coat,  low  hat,  and  gaiters,  was  chat- 
ting with  a  waggoner  going  with  a  load  of  hay  for  the 
next  morning's  market  in  London.  He  turned  into  an 
inn,  called  for  a  pint  of  the  best  port,  and  sat  down  in  the 
parlour  at  a  table  close  to  the  window,  so  that  he  could 
see  all  who  went  up  or  down.  He  entered  into  conver- 
sation with  two  or  three  people  who  came  in,  and  so 
passed  the  time  till  six,  when  he  felt  too  restless  to  sit 
still  longer,  and  went  out  into  the  street. 

When  he  was  half-way  to  the  Greyhound  he  heard  the 

sound  of  a  horse's  hoofs  behind  him,  and  saw  a  quietly 

dressed  man  coming  along  at  an  easy  trot.      Had  it  not 

been  that  he  recognised  the  horse,  he  could  not  have  felt 

218 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  219 

sure  that  its  rider  was  the  man  whose  coming  he  had 
been  waiting  for,  there  being  nothing  in  his  appearance 
that  would  excite  the  shghtest  suspicion  that  he  was 
other  than  a  gentleman  of  moderate  means  and  quiet 
taste,  either  returning  from  a  ride  or  passing  through  on 
his  way  to  town.  He  had  a  well-built  and  active  figure, 
carried  himself  with  the  ease  of  a  thorough  horseman, 
and  nodded  to  one  or  two  persons  of  his  acquaintance, 
and,  checking  his  horse  at  the  principal  butcher's, 
ordered  some  meat  to  be  sent  in  that  evening. 

Mark  could  trace  no  resemblance  in  the  face  to  that 
of  the  young  fellow  he  remembered.  It  was  a  quiet  and 
resolute  one.  If  this  were  Bastow,  he  had  lost  the  sneer- 
ing and  insolent  expression  that  was  so  strongly  im- 
pressed on  his  memory.  It  might  be  the  man,  but  if  so 
he  was  greatly  changed.  Mark's  first  impression  was 
that  it  could  not  be  Bastow,  but,  when  he  thought  over 
the  years  of  toil  and  confinement  in  the  convict  prison, 
the  life  he  had  led  in  the  bush,  and  the  two  years  he  had 
passed  since  he  returned  home,  he  imagined  that  the 
insolence  of  youth  might  well  have  disappeared  and 
been  succeeded  by  the  resolute  daring  and  the  dogged 
determination  that  seemed  to  be  impressed  on  this  fel- 
low's face. 

Mark  paused  fifty  yards  before  he  reached  the  inn. 
In  a  few  moments  he  saw  Chester  coming  along.  There 
was  no  one  else  in  sight. 

"Is  it  Bastow?"  he  asked,  as  the  oflScer  came  up. 

"  It's  Bastow,  sure  enough,  sir.  But  he  is  so  changed 
that  if  I  had  not  had  him  in  my  mind  I  should  not  have 
recognised  him.      I  calculate  that  a  man  who  has  gone 


220  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

through  what  he  has  would  have  lost  the  expression  he 
had  as  a  boy.  He  must  have  learnt  a  lot  in  the  con- 
vict prison,  and  the  fact  that  he  headed  the  mutiny 
and  escaped  from  the  searchers  and  managed  to  get 
home  showed  that  he  must  have  become  a  resolute  and 
desperate  man.  All  those  burglaries  and  the  way  in 
which  he  has  several  times  stopped  coaches  single- 
handed  show  his  nerve  and  coolness.  I  had  all  that  in 
my  mind  as  he  came  along,  and  his  face  was  pretty 
much  what  I  expected  to  see  it.  He  is  a  cool  hand, 
and  I  can  understand  how  he  has  given  us  the  slip  so 
long.  There  is  none  of  the  shifty  look  about  his  eyes 
that  one  generally  sees  in  criminals  ;  no  glancing  from 
side  to  side.  He  rode  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  had  a 
right  to  be  where  he  was  and  feared  no  one.  He  will 
be  an  awkward  customer  to  tackle  if  we  do  not  take 
him  by  surprise." 

"Yes,  I  agree  with  you  there.  However,  he  won't 
have  much  chance  of  using  either  his  pistols  or  his 
strength.  Here  is  Malcolm  coming,  so  I  will  walk  away 
for  a  few  minutes  and  let  you  go  in  first.  You  can  tell 
the  ostler  now  that  you  will  have  your  horse  put  in  at 
nine  o'clock.  I  have  been  thinking,  by  the  way,  that 
we  had  better  take  the  trap  round  behind  the  house  in- 
stead of  leaving  it  in  the  drive.  The  man  may  come 
back  this  way,  and,  if  so,  he  might  hear  the  horse 
stamp  or  make  some  movement,  and  that  would  at  once 
put  him  on  his  guard." 

As  the  officers  entered  the  inn,  Mark  went  into  the 
yard  and  told  the  ostler  that  he  had  met  some  friends 
and  should  let  his  horse  remain  there  for  the  night. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  221 

"  It  is  possible  that  they  may  drive  me  into  the  town 
in  the  morning,"  he  said;  "and  I  shall  very  likely  send 
a  man  down  for  the  horse." 

At  a  quarter  to  nine  he  went  out  again,  and  walked 
to  the  house  he  had  before  visited  ;  in  ten  minutes  he 
heard  the  sound  of  wheels,  threw  open  the  gate,  and 
the  men,  jumping  down,  led  the  horse  in. 

"You  may  as  well  take  him  out  of  the  trap,"  he  said. 
"  We  cannot  verj'  well  get  that  round  the  house,  but 
there  is  no  difficulty  about  taking  the  horse." 

The  officers  had  brought  a  halter  and  a  nose- bag  full 
of  corn.  The  horse  was  fastened  to  a  tree  with  soft' 
ground  round  it,  the  nose-bag  put  on,  and  a  horse-cloth 
thrown  over  its  back ;  then  Mark  and  his  two  compan- 
ions went  out  into  the  lane,  and  in  a  couple  of  minutes 
entered  the  next  gate,  treading  lightly  and  going  round 
to  the  back  of  the  house. 

A  light  burnt  in  the  kitchen,  and  an  old  woman  could 
be  seen  knitting.  They  lifted  the  latch  and  walked  in. 
Dropping  her  knitting,  she  rose  with  an  exclamation  of 
terror. 

Mark  advanced  alone. 

"  Do  not  be  frightened,"  he  said,  "  we  are  not  going 
to  do  you  any  harm."  He  took  out  his  little  ebony 
staff.  "We  are  constables,"  he  went  on,  "and  have 
orders  to  search  this  house.  We  must  secure  you,  but 
you  will  be  released  in  the  morning.  Now,  which  is 
your  room?" 

In  spite  of  Mark's  assurance,  the  old  woman  was 
almost  paralysed  with  terror.  However,  the  two  con- 
stables assisted  her  up  to  her  room,  and  there  secured 


222  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

her  with  a  rope,  taking  care  that  it  was  not  so  tightly 
bound  as  to  hurt  her.  Then  they  placed  a  gag  in  her 
mouth  and  left  her. 

"  Now,  let  us  search  his  room  in  the  first  place,"  Mark 
said,  when  they  came  downstairs  again.  "  I  hardly  ex- 
pect we  shall  find  anything.  You  may  be  sure  that  he 
will  have  taken  great  pains  to  hide  away  any  booty  that 
he  may  have  here,  and  that  it  will  need  daylight  and  a 
closer  search  than  we  can  give  the  place  now  before  we 
find  anything." 

The  search  of  the  house  was,  indeed,  fruitless.  They 
cut  open  the  bed,  prised  up  every  loose  board  in  the 
bedroom  and  the  parlour,  lifted  the  hearth-stone,  tapped 
the  walls,  and  searched  every  drawer ;  then,  taking  a  lan- 
tern, went  out  into  the  stable.  The  officers  were  both 
accustomed  to  look  for  hiding-places,  and  ran  their 
hands  along  on  the  top  of  the  walls,  examining  the  stone 
flooring  and  manger. 

"That  is  a  very  large  corn-bin,"  Mark  said,  as  he 
looked  round,  when  they  desisted  from  the  search. 

"You  are  right,  sir ;  we  will  empty  it." 

There  were  two  or  three  empty  sacks  on  the  ground 
near  it,  and  they  emptied  the  corn  into  these,  so  that 
there  should  be  no  litter  about.  Chester  gave  an  excla- 
mation of  disappointment  as  they  reached  the  bottom. 
Mark  put  his  hand  on  the  bin  and  gave  it  a  pull. 

"  It  is  just  as  I  thought,"  he  said.  "  It  is  fastened 
down.  I  saw  an  axe  in  the  woodshed,  Malcolm  ;  just 
fetch  it  here." 

While  the  man  was  away  Mark  took  the  lantern  and 
examined    the  bottom  closely.      "We  shan't  want  the 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  223 

axe,"  he  said,  as  he  pointed  out  to  Chester  a  piece  of 
string  that  was  apparently  jammed  in  the  form  of  a  loop 
between  the  bottom  and  side.  "Just  get  in  and  clear 
those  few  handfuls  of  corn  out.  I  think  you  will  see 
that  it  will  pull  up  then." 

There  was,  however,  no  movement  in  the  bottom 
when  Mark  pulled  at  the  loop. 

"  Look  closely  round  outside,"  he  said,  handing  Mal- 
colm, who  had  now  returned,  the  lantern.  "  I  have  no 
doubt  that  there  is  a  catch  somewhere." 

In  a  minute  or  two  the  constable  found  a  small  ring 
between  two  of  the  cobble-stones  close  to  the  foot  of 
the  wall.  He  pulled  at  it,  and  as  he  did  so  Mark  felt 
the  resistance  to  his  pull  cease  suddenly  and  the  bottom 
of  the  bin  came  up  like  a  trap-door. 

"  That  is  a  clever  hiding-place,"  he  said.  "  If  I  had 
not  happened  to  notice  that  the  bin  was  fixed  we 
might  have  had  a  long  search  before  we  found  it  here." 

Below  was  a  square  hole,  the  size  of  the  bin  ;  a 
ladder  led  down  into  it,  Mark,  with  a  lantern,  de- 
scended. Four  or  five  sacks  piled  on  each  other  lay 
at  the  bottom,  leaving  just  room  enough  for  a  man  to 
stand  beside  them. 

"  The  top  one  is  silver  by  the  feel,"  he  said,  "  not  yet 
broken  up;  these  smaller  sacks  are  solid ;  I  suppose  it  is 
silver  that  has  been  melted  down.  This,"  and  he  lifted 
a  bag  some  eighteen  inches  deep,  opened  it,  and  looked 
in,  "  contains  watches  and  jewels.  Now,  I  think  we 
will  leave  things  here  for  the  present  and  put  everything 
straight.  He  may  be  back  before  long."  Mark  as- 
cended, the  bottom  of  the  trap  was  shut  down  again, 


224  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

the  corn  poured  in  and  the  bags  thrown  down  on  the 
spot  from  which  they  had  been  taken.  ,  They  returned 
to  the  house,  shut  the  door,  and  extinguished  the  light. 

"That  has  been  a  grand  find,"  he  said  ;  "  even  if  this 
is  not  Bastow,  it  will  be  a  valuable  capture." 

"That  it  will,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
this  fellow  is  the  man  we  have  been  in  search  of  for  the 
last  eighteen  months  ;  that  accounts  for  our  difficulty  in 
laying  hold  of  him  ;  he  has  been  too  careful  to  try  to 
sell  any  of  the  plunder  that  he  has  got,  so  that  none  of 
the  fences  should  know  anything  about  him.  No  doubt 
he  has  taken  sufficient  cash  to  enable  him  to  live  here 
quietly.  He  intended  some  time  or  other  to  melt  down 
all  the  rest  of  the  plate  and  to  sell  the  silver,  which  he 
could  do  easily  enough.  As  for  the  watches  and  jewels, 
he  could  get  rid  of  them  abroad." 

"No  doubt  that  is  what  he  intended,"  Mark  agreed. 
"  It  is  not  often  these  fellows  are  as  prudent  as  he  has 
been  ;  if  they  were,  your  work  would  be  a  good  deal 
more  difficult  than  it  is." 

"You  are  right,  sir;  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  heard 
of  such  a  case  before.  The  fellow  almost  deserves  to 
get  away." 

"That  would  be  rewarding  him  too  highly  for  his 
caution,"  Mark  laughed.  "  He  is  a  desperate  villain, 
and  all  the  more  dangerous  for  being  a  prudent  one. 
Now,  I  think  one  of  us  had  better  keep  watch  at  the 
gate  by  turns.  We  shall  hear  him  coming  in  plenty  of 
time  to  get  back  here  and  be  in  readiness  for  him  ; 
mind,  we  each  understand  our  part.  I  will  stand  facing 
the  door.     It  is  possible  that  he  may  light  that  lantern 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  225 

that  we  saw  hanging  in  the  stable,  but  I  don't  think  it 
Hkely  that  he  will  do  so  ;  he  will  take  off  the  saddle, 
and  either  take  the  horse  in  there — there  is  plenty  of 
food  in  the  manger — or  else  turn  it  out  into  the  pad- 
dock. As  he  comes  in  I  will  throw  my  arms  round 
him  and  you  will  at  once  close  in,  one  on  each  side, 
each  catch  an  arm  tightly,  handcuff  him,  and  take  the 
pistols  from  his  belt;  don't  let  go  of  his  arms  until  I 
have  lit  the  candle,  he  may  have  another  pistol  inside 
his  coat  and  might  draw  it" 

It  was  now  one  o'clock,  and  half  an  hour  later  Malcolm, 
who  was  at  the  gate,  came  in  quietly  and  said  he  could 
hear  a  horse  coming  along  the  lane. 

"  Which  way,  Malcolm  ?" 

"Tooting  way." 

"That  is  all  right.  I  have  been  a  little  nervous  that 
our  horse  might  make  some  slight  noise  and  attract  his 
attention  ;  that  was  our  only  weak  point" 

They  had  already  ascertained  that  the  front  door  was 
locked  and  bolted,  and  that  he  must  therefore  enter 
through  the  kitchen.  They  heard  the  horse  stop  in 
front ;  a  moment  later  the  gate  was  opened,  and  through 
the  window  they  could  just  make  out  the  figure  of  a 
man  leading  a  horse,  then  the  stable-door  opened,  and 
they  heard  a  movement  and  knew  that  the  horse  was 
being  unsaddled  ;  they  heard  it  walk  into  the  stable,  the 
door  was  shut  behind  it,  and  a  step  approached  the  back 
door.  It  was  opened,  and  a  voice  said,  with  an  oath, 
"The  old  fool  has  forgotten  to  leave  a  candle  burning." 
Then  he  stepped  into  the  kitchen. 

In  an  instant  there  was  the  sound  of  a  violent  struggle, 

IS 


226  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

deep  oaths  and  curses,  two  sharp  clicks,  then  all  was 
quiet  except  heavy  breathing  and  the  striking  of  flint 
on  a  tinder-box  ;  there  was  the  blue  glare  of  the  sulphur 
match,  and  a  candle  was  lighted.  Mark  then  turned  to 
the  man  who  was  standing  still  grasped  in  the  hands  of 
his  two  captors. 

"Arthur  Bastow,"  he  said,  producing  his  staff,  "I 
arrest  you,  in  the  king's  name,  as  an  escaped  convict, 
as  a  notorious  highwayman  and  house-breaker." 

As  his  name  was  spoken  the  man  started  ;  then  he  said, 
quietly, — 

"You  have  made  a  mistake  this  time,  my  men  ;  my 
name  is  William  Johnson  ;  I  am  well  known  here,  and 
have  been  a  quiet  resident  in  this  house  for  upwards  of 
a  year." 

"A  resident,  but  not  a  quiet  resident,  Bastow.  I 
don't  think  we  are  mistaken  ;  but  even  if  you  can  prove 
that  you  are  not  Bastow,  but  William  Johnson,  a  man 
of  means  and  family,  we  have  evidence  enough  upon 
the  other  charges.  We  have  been  in  search  of  you  for 
a  long  time,  and  have  got  you  at  last.  You  don't  re- 
member me,  though  it  is  but  eighteen  months  since  we 
met ;  but  I  fancy  that  I  then  left  a  mark  upon  you  that 
still  remains  on  your  shoulder.  I  am  Mark  Thorndyke, 
and  you  will  understand  now  why  I  have  hunted  you 
down." 

"The  game  is  not  finished  yet,"  the  man  said,  reck- 
lessly. "  The  hunting  down  will  be  the  other  way  next 
time,  Mark  Thorndyke." 

"  I  don't  think  so.  Now,  Chester,  you  may  as  well 
tie  his  feet  together  and  then  search  him.     When  that 


THE   BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  227 

is  done  I  will  look  after  him  while  you  fetch  the  trap 
round," 

In  his  pockets  were  found  two  gold  watches,  ^48  in 
gold,  and  ;^ioo  in  bank-notes. 

"We  shall  hear  where  this  comes  from  to-morrow," 
Malcolm  said,  as  he  laid  them  on  the  table.  ' '  It  will 
save  us  the  trouble  of  getting  evidence  from  Australia." 

The  prisoner  was  placed  in  a  chair,  and  then  the  two 
officers  went  out  to  fetch  the  trap  round, 

"So  you  have  turned  thief-catcher,  have  you,"  he 
said,  in  a  sneering  tone,  that  recalled  him  to  Mark's 
memory  far  more  than  his  face  had  done,  "  and  you  carry 
a  Bow  Street  staff  about  with  you,  and  pretend  to  belong 
to  the  force  ;  that  is  a  punishable  offence,  you  know." 

"Yes,  it  would  be  if  I  had  no  right  to  use  it,"  Mark 
said,  quietly  ;  "  but  it  happens  that  I  have  a  right,  having 
been  for  a  year  and  a  half  in  the  force.  I  joined  it 
solely  to  hunt  you  down,  and  now  that  I  have  done  so 
my  resignation  will  be  sent  in  to-morrow." 

"And  how  is  the  worthy  Squire?" 

Mark  started  to  his  feet  and  seized  one  of  the  pistols 
lying  before  him. 

"You  villain!"  he  exclaimed;  "I  wonder  you  dare 
mention  his  name — ^you,  his  murderer." 

"  It  was  but  tit  for  tat,"  the  man  said,  coolly ;  "  he  mur- 
dered me,  body  and  soul,  when  he  sent  me  to  the  hulks, 
I  told  him  I  would  be  even  with  him.  I  did  not  think 
I  had  hit  him  at  the  time,  for  I  thought  that  if  I  had 
you  would  have  stopped  with  him,  and  would  not  have 
chased  me  across  the  fields." 

"You    scoundrel!"    Mark  said.       "You  know  well 


228  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

enough  that  you  came  back,  stole  into  his  room,  and 
stabbed  him." 

Bastow  looked  at  him  with  a  puzzled  expression. 

"I  don't  know  what  you  are  talking  about,"  he  said. 
"  I  fired  at  him  through  the  window, — I  don't  mind  say- 
ing so  to  you,  because  I  know  that  you  have  no  wit- 
nesses,— saw  him  jump  up,  but  I  fancied  I  had  missed 
him.  I  saw  you  bolt  out  of  the  room,  and  thought  it 
better  to  be  off  at  once  instead  of  taking  another  shot ; 
you  gave  me  a  hard  chase.  It  was  lucky  for  you  that 
you  did  not  come  up  with  me,  for  if  you  had  done  so  I 
should  have  shot  you  ;  I  owed  you  one  for  having  killed 
as  good  a  comrade  as  man  ever  had,  and  for  that  bullet 
you  put  in  my  shoulder  before.  If  I  had  not  been  so 
out  of  breath  that  I  could  not  feel  sure  of  my  aim  I 
should  have  stopped  for  you,  but  I  rode  straight  to 
town." 

"  A  likely  story,"  Mark  said,  shortly.  "  What !  you 
will  pretend  that  there  were  two  murderers  hanging 
round  the  house  that  night  ;  a  likely  tale,  indeed." 

"  I  tell  you  that  if  your  father  was  killed  by  a  knife 
or  dagger,  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,"  the  man  said. 
"  I  am  obliged  to  the  man,  whoever  he  was.  I  had  in- 
tended to  go  down  again  to  Reigate  to  finish  the  job 
myself;  I  should  scarcely  have  missed  a  second  time. 
So  it  is  for  that  you  hunted  me  down.  Well,  I  don't 
blame  you  ;  I  never  forgive  an  injury,  and  I  see  your 
sentiments  are  mine.  Whether  I  killed  your  father  or 
not  makes  no  difference  ;  he  was  killed,  that  is  the  prin- 
cipal point ;  if  I  were  going  to  be  put  on  my  trial  for  that 
I  could  prove  that  at  eight  o'clock  I  was  in  a  coffee-house 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  229 

in  Covent  Garden.  I  purposely  kicked  up  a  row  there 
and  was  turned  out,  so  that  if  I  were  charged  with  that 
shooting  affair  I  could  prove  that  I  was  in  London  that 
evening." 

"  I  can  quite  believe  that,"  Mark  said  ;  "  a  fast  horse 
would  have  brought  you  up  to  town  in  an  hour  and  a 
half,  and  another  fast  horse  would  have  taken  you  back 
again  as  quickly ;  so  you  might  have  been  in  London  at 
eight  and  back  again  at  Crowswood  by  half-past  twelve 
or  one,  even  if  you  stopped  a  couple  of  hours  at  a  cof- 
fee-house. However,  you  won't  be  tried  for  that.  Those 
things  on  the  table  and  the  contents  of  that  corn-bin  are 
enough  to  hang  you  a  dozen  times." 

"Curse  you,  have  you  found  that  out?"  Bastow  ex- 
claimed, furiously. 

"We  have,"  Mark  replied.  "It  would  have  been 
wiser  if  you  had  got  rid  of  your  things  sooner.  It  was 
a  clever  hiding-place,  but  it  is  always  dangerous  to  keep 
snch  things  by  you,  Bastow." 

The  man  said  no  more,  but  sat  quietly  in  his  chair 
until  they  heard  the  vehicle  stop  outside  the  gate.  Then 
the  two  constables  came  in  and,  lifting  Bastow,  carried 
him  out  and  placed  him  in  the  bottom  of  the  cart 

"You  can  loose  the  old  woman  now,  Malcolm," 
Mark  said,  as  he  took  his  seat  and  gathered  the  reins 
in  his  hand.  "By  eleven  o'clock  no  doubt  one  of  the 
others  will  be  down  with  the  gig  again,  and  you  can 
empty  out  the  contents  of  that  hole  and  bring  them  up 
with  you.  I  don't  think  that  it  will  be  of  any  use 
searching  farther.  You  might  have  a  good  look  all 
round  before  you  come  away.    There  may  be  some  notes 


230  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

stowed  away,  though  it  is  likely  enough  that  they  have 
been  sent  away  by  post  to  some  receiver  abroad." 

For  some  time  after  starting  they  could  hear  the 
prisoner  moving  about  uneasily  in  the  straw. 

"  I  suppose  there  is  no  fear  of  his  slipping  out  of 
those  handcuffs,  Chester?" 

"  Not  a  bit ;  they  are  full  tight  for  him.  I  expect 
that  that  is  what  is  making  him  uncomfortable." 

Presently  the  movement  ceased. 

"  He  is  still  enough  now,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I  should 
not  be  at  all  surprised  if  he  has  dropped  off  to  sleep. 
He  is  hardened  enough  to  sleep  while  the  gibbet  was 
waiting  for  him." 

It  was  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  they  drove 
up  at  Bow  Street.  Two  constables  on  duty  came  out 
to  the  cart. 

"We  have  got  a  prisoner,  inspector,"  Chester  said. 
"  He  is  the  man  we  have  been  looking  for  so  long.  I 
fancy  we  have  got  all  the  swag  that  has  been  stolen  for 
the  last  eighteen  months — bags  of  jewels  and  watches, 
and  sacks  of  silver.  He  is  handcuffed  and  his  legs  are 
tied,  so  we  must  carry  him  in." 

The  officer  fetched  out  a  lantern.  The  other  consta- 
ble helped  him  to  let  down  the  back  board  of  the  cart. 

"Now,  Bastow,  wake  up,"  Chester  said;  "here  we 
are." 

But  there  was  no  movement. 

"  He  is  mighty  sound  asleep,"  the  constable  said. 

"Well,  haul  him  out."  And  taking  the  man  by  the 
shoulders  they  pulled  him  out  from  the  cart. 

"There  is  something  rum  about  him,"  the  constable 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  231 

said  ;  and  as  they  lowered  his  feet  to  the  pavement  his 
head  fell  forward,  and  he  would  have  sunk  down  if  they 
had  not  supported  him. 

The  inspector  raised  the  lantern  to  his  face. 

"Why,  the  man  is  dead,"  he  said. 

"  Dead  !"  Chester  repeated,  incredulously. 

"Ay,  that  he  is.  Look  here,"  and  he  pointed  to  a 
slim  steel  handle  some  three  inches  long,  projecting 
over  the  region  of  the  heart.  "You  must  have 
searched  him  very  carelessly,  Chester.  Well,  bring 
him  in  now." 

They  carried  him  into  the  room,  where  two  candles 
were  burning.  Mark  followed  them.  The  inspector 
pulled  out  the  dagger,  the  blade  of  which  was  but  four 
inches  long  and  very  thin.  The  handle  was  little  thicker 
than  the  blade  itself      Mark  took  it  and  examined  it. 

"  I  have  not  a  shadow  of  doubt  that  this  is  the 
dagger  with  which  he  murdered  my  father.  The 
wound  was  very  narrow,  about  this  width,  and  the 
doctor  said  that  the  weapon  that  had  been  used  was 
certainly  a  foreign  dagger." 

"  I  don't  think  this  is  a  foreign  dagger,"  the  inspector 
said  on  examining  it,  "  although  it  may  be  the  one  that 
was  used,  as  you  say,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  It  has  evidently 
been  made  to  carry  about  without  being  observed." 

He  threw  back  the  dead  man's  coat. 

"Ah,  here  is  where  it  was  kept.  You  see  the  lining 
has  been  sewn  to  the  cloth,  so  as  to  make  a  sheath 
down  by  the  seam  under  the  arm.  I  expect  that, 
knowing  what  would  happen  if  he  were  caught,  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  do  it  all  along.     Well,  I  don't 


232  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

know  that  you  are  to  be  so  much  blamed,  Chester,  for, 
passing  your  hand  over  his  clothes,  you  might  very  well 
miss  this,  which  is  no  thicker  than  a  piece  of  whale- 
bone. Well,  well,  he  has  saved  us  a  good  deal  of 
trouble.  You  say  you  have  got  most  of  the  booty  he 
has  collected." 

"  I  don't  know  that  we  have  got  all  of  it,  sir,  but  we 
have  made  a  very  big  haul,  anyhow ;  it  was  a  cunningly 
contrived  place.  There  was  a  big  corn-bin  in  the  stable, 
and  when  we  had  emptied  out  the  corn  it  seemed 
empty.  However,  Mr.  Thorndyke  discovered  that 
the  bin  was  fixed.  Then  we  found  that  the  bottom 
was  really  a  trap-door,  and  under  it  was  a  sort  of  well 
in  which  were  sacks  and  bags.  One  of  the  sacks  was 
full  of  unbroken  silver,  two  others  contained  silver 
ingots,  things  that  he  had  melted  down,  and  there  was 
a  large  bag  full  of  watches  and  jewels.  In  his  pocket 
we  found  ;^ioo  in  bank  notes,  about  fifty  guineas,  and 
a  couple  of  gold  watches." 

"That  he  must  have  got  to-night  from  the  Portsmouth 
coach  ;  we  heard  half  an  hour  ago  that  it  had  been 
stopped  near  Kingston,  the  coachman  shot,  and  the 
passengers  robbed.  It  will  be  good  news  to  some  of 
them  that  we  have  got  hold  of  their  valuables.  Well, 
Mr.  Thorndyke,  I  have  to  congratulate  you  most  heartily 
on  the  skill  with  which  you  have  ferreted  out  a  man  who 
had  baffled  us  for  so  long,  and  had  become  a  perfect 
terror  to  the  south  of  London.  No  doubt  we  shall  be 
able  to  trace  a  great  portion  of  the  property  in  that  sack. 
The  capture  has  been  splendidly  effected." 

"You  will  understand,"  Mark  said,  "that  I  do  not 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  233 

wish  my  name  to  appear  in  the  matter  at  all.  I  have, 
as  you  know,  been  actuated  by  private  reasons  only  in 
my  search,  and  I  see  no  occasion  why  my  name  should 
be  mentioned  ;  the  evidence  of  Chester  and  Malcolm 
will  be  ample.  From  information  received,  they  went 
down  to  this  place,  searched  it  in  his  absence,  discovered 
the  stolen  goods,  and  captured  them.  Having  hand- 
cuffed and  bound  him,  one  drove  him  up  to  town,  the 
other  remaining  to  guard  the  treasure.  On  his  way  he 
got  at  this  hidden  dagger  and  stabbed  himself.  My 
evidence  would  not  strengthen  the  case  at  all." 

"  No  ;  I  don't  see  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  call  you, 
Mr.  Thorndyke.  The  discovery  of  this  hidden  booty 
and  the  proceeds  of  the  coach  robbery  would  be  quite 
sufficient.  Beyond  the  coroner's  inquest  there  will  be 
no  enquiry.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  it  might  probably 
have  been  necessary  to  call  you  at  the  trial.  However, 
as  it  is,  it  will  save  a  lot  of  trouble  ;  now  we  shall  only 
need  to  find  the  owners  of  these  bank-notes.  I  will 
send  off  a  cart  for  the  things  as  early  as  I  can  get  one, 
and  will  send  a  couple  of  constables  round  to  the  houses 
where  burglaries  have  been  committed  to  request  the 
owners  to  come  over  and  see  if  they  can  identify  any 
of  their  property ;  and  those  who  do  so  can  attend  the 
inquest  to-morrow,  though  I  don't  suppose  they  will  be 
called.  The  chief  will  be  mightily  pleased  when  he 
hears  of  what  has  taken  place,  for  he  has  been  sadly 
worried  by  these  constant  complaints,  and  I  fancy  that 
the  authorities  have  been  rather  down  upon  him  on 
the  subject.  The  announcement  that  the  career  of  this 
famous  robber  has  been  brought  to  an  end  will  cause 


234  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

quite  a  sensation,  and  people  will  sleep  more  quietly  than 
they  have  done  lately  round  the  commons  on  the  south 
side.  I  expect  that  if  he  had  not  put  an  end  to  himself 
we  should  have  had  to  send  him  across  to  Newington 
to-day  ;  for,  of  course,  it  is  a  Surrey  business,  though  we 
have  had  the  luck  to  take  him.  I  suppose  we  shall  not 
see  much  of  you  in  the  future,  Mr.  Thorndyke?" 

"No,  indeed,"  Mark  said.  "My  business  is  done, 
and  I  shall  send  in  my  resignation  this  morning.  I 
don't  regret  the  time  that  I  have  spent  over  it.  I  have 
learned  a  great  deal  and  have  seen  a  lot  of  the  shady 
side  of  life,  and  have  picked  up  experience  in  a  good 
many  ways." 

Mark,  after  requesting  the  inspector  to  find  a  man  to 
go  over  to  Streatham  and  bring  back  his  horse,  and 
writing  an  order  to  the  ostler  to  deliver  it,  walked  across 
to  his  lodgings.  Upon  the  whole,  he  was  not  sorry  that 
Bastow  had  taken  the  matter  into  his  own  hands  ;  he  had, 
certainly,  while  engaged  in  the  search,  looked  forward 
to  seeing  him  in  the  dock  and  witnessing  his  execution, 
but  he  now  felt  that  enough  had  been  done  for  ven- 
geance, and  that  it  was  as  well  that  the  matter  had 
ended  as  it  had.  He  was  wearied  out  with  the  excite- 
ment of  the  last  forty-eight  hours.  It  was  one  o'clock 
when  he  awoke,  and,  after  dressing  and  going  into 
Covent  Garden  to  lunch  at  one  of  the  coffee-houses,  he 
made  his  way  up  to  Islington. 

"Taking  a  day's  holiday?"  Millicent  asked,  as  he 
came  in. 

"  Well,  not  exactly,  Millicent ;  I  have  left  school  alto- 
gether." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  235 

"  Left  school,  Mark  ;  do  you  mean  that  you  have  de- 
cided that  it  is  of  no  use  going  on  any  longer?" 

"  I  have  given  it  up  because  I  have  finished  it  Arthur 
Bastow  was  captured  last  night,  and  committed  suicide 
as  he  was  being  taken  to  the  station." 

An  exclamation  of  surprise  broke  from  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham and  Millicent. 

"  It  seems  horrid  to  be  glad  that  anyone  has  taken  his 
own  life,"  the  latter  said  ;  "  but  I  cannot  help  feeling  so, 
for  as  long  as  he  lived  I  should  never  have  considered 
that  you  were  safe,  and  besides,  I  suppose  there  is  no 
doubt  that  if  he  had  not  killed  himself  he  would  have 
been  hung." 

"There  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt  about  that,"  Mark 
replied.  "We  found  the  proceeds  of  a  vast  number 
of  robberies  at  his  place,  and  also  in  his  pockets  the 
money  he  had  taken  from  the  passengers  of  the  Ports- 
mouth coach  an  hour  before  we  captured  him.  So  that, 
putting  aside  that  Australian  business  altogether,  his 
doom  was  sealed." 

"  Now,  please  tell  us  all  about  it,"  Mrs.  Cunningham 
said.  "  But  first  let  us  congratulate  you  most  warmly 
not  only  on  the  success  of  your  search,  but  that  the 
work  is  at  an  end." 

"Yes,  I  am  glad  it  is  over.  At  first  I  was  very  much 
interested  ;  in  fact,  I  was  intensely  interested  all  along, 
and  should  have  been  for  however  long  it  had  continued. 
But,  at  the  same  time,  I  could  do  nothing  else,  and  one 
does  not  want  to  spend  one's  whole  life  as  a  detective. 
At  last  it  came  about  almost  by  chance,  and  the  only 
thing  I  have  to  congratulate  myself  upon  is  that  my 


236  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

idea  of  the  sort  of  place  he  would  have  taken  was  exactly 
borne  out  by  fact."  And  Mark  then  gave  them  a  full 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  discovery  had  been 
made  and  the  capture  effected. 

"You  see,  Millicent,  I  followed  your  injunction,  and 
was  very  careful ;  taking  him  by  surprise  as  I  did,  I 
might  have  managed  it  single-handed,  but  with  the  aid 
of  two  good  men  it  made  a  certainty  of  it,  and  the  whole 
thing  was  comfortably  arranged." 

"  I  think  you  have  done  splendidly,  Mark,"  Mrs.  Cun- 
ningham said.  "  It  was  certainly  wonderful  that  you 
should  have  found  him  doing  exactly  what  you  had 
guessed,  even  down  to  the  deaf  servant.  Well,  now  that 
is  done  and  over,  what  do  you  think  of  doing  next  ?" 

"  I  have  hardly  thought  about  that,"  he  replied  ;  "  but, 
at  any  rate,  I  shall  take  a  few  weeks'  holiday,  and  I  sup- 
pose after  that  I  shall  settle  down  to  the  search  for  my 
uncle's  treasure.  I  am  afraid  that  will  be  a  much  longer 
and  a  vastly  more  difficult  business  than  this  has  been. 
Here  there  were  all  sorts  of  clues  to  work  upon.  Bas- 
tow  ought  to  have  been  captured  months  ago  ;  but  in 
this  other  affair,  so  far,  there  is  next  to  nothing  to  follow 
up.  We  don't  even  know  whether  the  things  are  in 
India  or  in  England.  I  believe  they  will  be  found,  but 
that  it  will  be  by  an  accident.  Really,  I  fancy  that  we 
shall  hear  about  them  when  you  come  of  age,  Millicent 
There  was  to  have  been  no  change  till  that  time,  and  I 
cannot  help  thinking  that  Uncle  George  must  have  made 
some  provision  by  which  we  should  get  to  know  about 
them  in  the  event  of  his  death  without  his  having  an 
opportunity  of  telling  anyone  where  they  are. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  237 

"  He  might  have  been  killed  in  battle  ;  he  might  have 
been  drowned  on  his  way  home.  He  had  thought  the 
whole  matter  over  so  thoroughly,  I  do  not  think  the  pos- 
sibilities of  this  could  have  escaped  him.  As  I  told 
you,  Mr.  Prendergast  made  enquiries  of  all  the  principal 
bankers  and  Indian  agents  here,  and  altogether  without 
success.  After  he  had  done  that,  I  got  a  list  of  all  the 
leading  firms  in  Calcutta  and  Madras,  and  wrote  to 
them,  and  all  the  replies  were  in  the  negative.  It  is 
true  that  does  not  prove  anything  absolutely.  Eighteen 
years  is  a  long  time,  and  the  chances  are  that  during 
those  years  almost  every  head  of  a  firm  would  have  re- 
tired and  come  home.  Such  a  matter  would  only  be 
likely  to  be  known  to  the  heads ;  and  if,  as  we  thought 
likely,  the  box  or  chest  was  merely  forwarded  by  a  firm 
there  to  England,  the  transaction  would  not  have  at- 
tracted any  special  attention.  If,  upon  the  other  hand, 
it  remained  out  there,  it  might  have  been  put  down  in 
a  cellar  or  store,  and  have  been  lying  there  ever  since 
altogether  forgotten." 

"  I  don't  see  myself  why  you  should  bother  any 
more  about  it ;  perhaps,  as  you  say,  it  will  turn  up  of 
itself  when  I  come  of  age.  At  any  rate,  I  should  say 
it  is  certainly  as  well  to  wait  till  then  and  see  if  it  does, 
especially  as  you  acknowledge  that  you  have  no  clue 
whatever  to  work  on.  It  is  only  three  more  years,  for  I 
will  be  eighteen  next  week,  and  it  certainly  seems  to  me 
that  it  will  be  very  foolish  to  spend  the  next  three  years 
in  searching  about  for  a  thing  that  may  come  to  you 
without  any  searching  at  all." 

"Well,  I  will  think  it  over." 


238  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"You  see  you  really  don't  want  the  money,  Mark," 
she  went  on. 

"No,  I  don't  want  it  particularly,  Millicent,  but  when 
one  knows  that  there  is  something  like  ;^50,ooo  waiting 
for  one  somewhere,  one  would  like  to  get  it.  Your 
father  worked  for  twenty  years  of  his  life  accumulating 
it  for  us,  and  it  seems  to  me  a  sort  of  sacred  duty  to 
see  that  his  labour  has  not  all  been  thrown  away." 

Millicent  was  silent. 

"  It  is  very  tiresome,"  she  said,  presently.  "Of  course, 
my  father  intended,  as  you  say,  that  his  savings  should 
come  to  us,  but  I  am  sure  he  never  meant  that  they 
should  be  a  bother  and  a  trouble  to  us." 

"  I  don't  see  why  they  should  ever  be  that,  Millicent 
As  it  is,  we  have  both  sufficient  for  anything  any  man  or 
woman  could  reasonably  want,  and  neither  of  us  need 
fret  over  it  if  the  treasure  is  never  found.  Still,  he 
wished  us  to  have  it,  and  it  is  properly  ours,  and  I  don't 
want  it  to  go  to  enrich  someone  who  has  not  a  shadow 
of  a  right  to  it." 

On  the  following  morning  Mark  went  to  attend  the 
inquest  on  Bastow.  He  did  not  go  into  the  court,  how- 
ever, but  remained  close  at  hand  in  the  event  of  the 
coroner  insisting  upon  his  being  called.  However,  the 
two  men  only  spoke  casually  in  their  evidence  of  their 
comrade  Roberts,  who  had  been  also  engaged  in  the 
capture.  One  of  the  jurymen  suggested  that  he  should 
also  be  called,  but  the  coroner  said, — 

"  I  really  cannot  see  any  occasion  for  it ;  we  are  here 
to  consider  how  the  deceased  came  by  his  death,  and  I 
think  it  must  be  perfectly  clear  that  he  came  by  it  by  his 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  239 

own  act.  You  have  heard  how  he  was  captured,  that 
the  spoils  of  the  coach  that  he  had  just  rifled  were  found 
upon  him,  and  that  the  booty  he  had  been  acquiring 
from  his  deeds  for  months  past  also  was  seized  ;  there- 
fore, as  the  man  was  desperate,  and  knew  well  enough 
that  his  life  was  forfeited,  ample  motive  there  was  for  his 
putting  an  end  to  his  wretched  existence.  I  really  do 
not  think,  gentlemen,  that  it  is  worth  while  to  waste  your 
time  and  mine  by  going  into  further  evidence." 

Finally,  a  verdict  oi  felo-de-se  was  returned,  with  a 
strong  expression  of  the  jury's  admiration  of  the  conduct 
of  Constables  Malcolm,  Chester,  and  Roberts,  who  had 
so  cleverly  effected  the  capture  of  the  man  who  had  so 
long  set  the  law  at  defiance. 


•»«•. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


FOUR  days  later  Mark,  on  his  return  from  dinner, 
found  Philip  Cotter  sitting  in  his  room  waiting 
for  him.  They  had  met  on  the  previous  evening, 
and  Cotter  had  expressed  his  intention  of  calling  upon 
him  the  next  day. 

"I  am  here  on  a  matter  of  business,  Thorndyke,"  the 
latter  said,  as  they  shook  hands. 

"  Of  business  !"  Mark  repeated. 

"Yes.  You  might  guess  for  a  year,  and  I  don't  sup- 
pose that  you  would  hit  it.  It  is  rather  a  curious  thing. 
Nearly  twenty  years  ago " 

"  I  can  guess  it  before  you  go  any  farther,"  Mark  ex- 
claimed, leaping  up  from  the  seat  that  he  had  just  taken. 
"  Your  people  received  a  box  from  India." 

"  That  is  so,  Mark  ;  although  how  you  guessed  it  I 
don't  know." 

"We  have  been  searching  for  it  for  years,"  Mark 
replied.  "  Our  lawyer,  Prendergast,  wrote  to  you  about 
that  box  ;  at  least  he  wrote  to  you  asking  if  you  had 
240 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  241 

any  property  belonging  to  Colonel  Thorndyke,  and 
your  people  wrote  to  say  they  hadn't." 

"  Yes  ;  I  remember  I  wrote  to  him  myself.  Of  course 
that  was  before  you  did  me  that  great  service,  and  I  did 
not  know  your  name,  and  we  had  not  the  name  on  our 
books.     What  is  in  the  box?" 

"Jewels  worth  something  like  ^50,000," 

"  By  Jove  !  I  congratulate  you,  old  fellow  ;  that  is  to 
say,  if  you  have  the  handling  of  it.  Well,  this  is  what 
happened.  The  box  was  sent  to  us  by  a  firm  in  Cal- 
cutta, together  with  bills  for  ;^5o,ooo.  The  instructions 
were  that  the  money  was  to  be  invested  in  stock,  and 
that  we  were  to  manage  it  and  to  take  ;^ioo  a  year  for 
so  doing.  The  rest  of  the  interest  of  the  money  was  to 
be  invested.  The  box  was  a  very  massive  one,  and  was 
marked  with  the  letters  X.Y.Z.  It  was  very  carefully 
sealed.  Our  instructions  were  that  the  owner  of  the 
box  and  the  money  might  present  himself  at  any  time." 

"And  that  the  proof  of  his  ownership  was  to  be 
that  he  was  to  use  the  word  Masulipatam,"  Mark 
broke  in,  "  and  produce  a  gold  coin  that  would  prob- 
ably— though  of  this  I  am  not  certain — correspond 
with  the  seals."  He  got  up  and  went  to  the  cabinet, 
which  he  had  brought  up  with  him  from  Crowswood, 
unlocked  it,  and  produced  the  piece  of  paper  and  the 
coin. 

"Yes,  that  looks  like  the  seals,  Thorndyke.  At  any 
rate,  it  is  the  same  sort  of  thing.  Why  on  earth  didn't 
you  come  with  it  before,  and  take  the  things  away?" 

"  Simply  because  I  did  not  know  where  to  go.  My 
uncle  was  dying  when  he    came  home,  and  told   my 

16 


242  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

father  about  the  treasure,  but  he  died  suddenly,  and 
my  father  did  not  know  whether  it  was  sent  to  England 
or  committed  to  someone's  charge  in  India,  or  buried 
there.  We  did  the  only  thing  we  could,  namely,  en- 
quired at  all  the  banks  and  agents  here  and  at  all  the 
principal  firms  in  Madras  and  Calcutta  to  ask  if  they 
had  in  their  possession  any  property  belonging  to  the 
late  Colonel  Thorndyke." 

"You  see  we  did  not  know,"  Cotter  went  on,  "any 
more  than  Adam,  to  whom  the  box  belonged.  Fortu- 
nately the  agent  sent  in  his  communication  a  sealed 
letter,  on  the  outside  of  which  was  written,  '  This  is  to 
remain  unopened,  but  if  no  one  presents  himself  with 
the  token,  it  is  to  be  read  on  the  i8th  of  August,  1789.' 
That  was  yesterday,  you  know." 

"  Yes,  that  was  my  cousin's  eighteenth  birthday.  We 
thought  if  my  uncle  had  left  the  box  in  anyone's  charge 
he  would  probably  have  given  him  some  such  instruc- 
tions, for  at  that  time  there  was  hard  fighting  in  India, 
and  he  might  have  been  killed  any  day,  and  would 
therefore  naturally  have  made  some  provisions  for  pre- 
venting the  secret  dying  with  him." 

"We  did  not  think  of  it  until  this  morning  early, 
though  we  have  been  rather  curious  over  it  ourselves. 
When  we  opened  it,  inside  was  another  letter  addressed, 
*  To  be  delivered  to  John  Thorndyke,  Esquire,  at  Craw- 
ley, near  Hastings,  or  at  Crowswood,  Reigate,  or,  in  the 
event  of  his  death,  to  his  executors.'  " 

"I  am  one  of  his  executors,"  Mark  said  ;  "Mr.  Pren- 
dergast,  the  lawyer,  is  the  other.  I  think  I  had  better 
go  round  to  him  to-morrow  and  open  the  letter  there." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  243 

"Oh,  I  should  think  you  might  open  it  at  once, 
Thorndyke.  It  will  probably  only  contain  instructions, 
and,  at  any  rate,  as  you  have  the  coin  and  the  word,  you 
could  come  round  to-morrow  morning  and  get  the  chest 
out  if  you  want  it." 

"I  won't  do  that,"  Mark  said.  "The  coffer  contains 
gems  worth  over  ^50,000  ;  I  would  very  much  rather  it 
remained  in  your  keeping  until  I  decide  what  to  do  with 
it.    How  large  is  it?" 

"  It  is  a  square  box  about  a  foot  each  way  ;  and  it  is 
pretty  heavy,  probably  from  the  setting  of  the  jewels. 
Well,  anyhow,  I  am  heartily  glad,  Thorndyke.  I  know, 
of  course,  that  you  are  well  off,  still  ^100,000, — for  the 
money  has  doubled  itself  since  we  have  had  it, — to  say 
nothing  of  the  jewels,  is  a  nice  plum  to  drop  into  any- 
one's mouth." 

"  Very  nice,  indeed,  although  only  half  of  it  comes  to 
me  under  my  uncle's  will.  To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  am 
more  glad  that  the  mystery  has  been  solved  than  at  get- 
ting the  money  ;  the  affair  was  a  great  worry  to  my 
father,  and  has  been  so  to  me.  I  felt  that  I  ought  to 
search  for  the  treasure,  and  yet  the  probability  of  finding 
it  seemed  so  small  that  I  felt  the  thing  was  hopeless, 
and  that  really  the  only  chance  was  that  my  uncle  would 
have  taken  just  the  course  he  did,  and  have  fixed  some 
date  when  the  treasure  should  be  handed  over,  if  not 
asked  for.  I  rather  fancied  that  it  would  not  have  been 
for  another  three  years,  for  that  is  when  my  cousin  comes 
of  age." 

"What  cousin  do  you  mean?"  Philip  Cotter  asked. 
"  I  did  not  know  you  had  one." 


244  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  Well,  that  is  at  present  a  secret,  Cotter  ;  one  of  the 
mysteries  connected  with  my  uncle's  will.  For  myself, 
I  would  tell  it  in  the  market-place  to-morrow,  but  she 
wishes  it  to  be  preserved  at  present ;  you  shall  certainly 
know  as  soon  as  anyone.  By  the  way,  I  have  not  seen 
you  at  Mrs.  Cunningham's  for  the  last  week,  and  you 
used  to  be  a  pretty  regular  visitor." 

"  No,"  the  young  man  said,  gloomily.  "  I  don't  mind 
telling  you  that  Miss  Conyers  refused  me  a  fortnight 
ago  ;  I  never  thought  that  I  had  much  chance,  but  I  had 
just  the  shadow  of  hope,  and  that  is  at  an  end  now." 

"  Perhaps  in  the  future,"  Mark  suggested,  for  the  sake 
of  saying  something. 

*'  No  ;  I  said  as  much  as  that  to  her,  and  she  replied 
that  it  would  always  be  the  same,  and  I  gathered  from 
her  manner,  although  she  did  not  exactly  say  so,  that 
there  was  someone  else  in  the  case,  and  yet  I  have  never 
met  anyone  often  there." 

"  Perhaps  you  are  mistaken,"  Mark  said. 

*'  Well,  whether  or  not,  there  is  clearly  no  hope  for 
me.  I  am  very  sorry,  but  it  is  no  use  moping  over  it. 
My  father  and  mother  like  her  so  much,  and  they  are 
anxious  for  me  to  marry  and  settle  down  ;  altogether,  it 
would  have  been  just  the  thing.  I  do  not  know  whether 
she  has  any  money,  and  did  not  care,  for  of  course  I 
shall  have  plenty.  I  shall  be  a  junior  partner  in  an- 
other six  months  ;  my  father  told  me  so  the  other  day. 
He  said  that  at  one  time  he  was  afraid  that  I  should 
never  come  into  the  house,  for  that  it  would  not  have 
been  fair  to  the  others  to  take  such  a  reckless  fellow  in  ; 
but  that  I  seemed  to  have  reformed  so  thoroughly  since 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  245 

that  affair  that,  if  I  continued  so  for  another  six  months, 
they  should  have  no  hesitation  in  giving  me  a  share." 

It  was  too  late  to  go  up  to  Islington  that  evening.  In 
the  morning  Mark  went  with  the  still  unopened  letter  to 
the  solicitors.  The  old  lawyer  congratulated  him  most 
heartily  when  he  told  him  of  the  discover)'  he  had  made. 

"  I  am  heartily  glad,  Mark  ;  not  so  much  for  the  sake 
of  the  money,  but  because  I  was  afraid  that  that  con- 
founded treasure  was  going  to  unsettle  your  life.  When 
a  man  once  begins  treasure-hunting  it  becomes  a  sort  of 
craze,  and  he  can  no  more  give  it  up  than  an  opium- 
smoker  can  the  use  of  the  drug.  Thank  goodness,  that 
is  over ;  so  the  capital  amount  is  doubled,  and  you  are 
accordingly  worth  ;^7  5,000  more  than  you  were  this 
time  yesterday, — a  fine  windfall.  Now  let  us  see  what 
your  uncle  says." 

He  broke  the  seal.     The  letter  was  a  short  one : 

"  My  dear  John, — If  you  have  not,  before  you  re- 
ceive this,  got  my  treasure,  you  will  get  it  on  the  i8th  or 
19th  of  August,  1789.  I  have  made  a  will  which  will 
give  you  full  instructions  what  to  do  with  it.  I  may  say, 
though,  that  I  have  left  it  between  a  little  daughter,  who 
was  born  six  months  ago,  and  your  son  Mark.  My  own 
intentions  are  to  stop  out  here  until  I  get  the  rank  of 
general,  and  I  have  taken  the  measures  that  I  have  done 
in  case  a  bullet  or  a  sharp  attack  of  fever  carries  me  off 
suddenly.  I  hope  that  you  will  have  carried  out  the 
provisions  of  my  will,  and  I  hope  also  that  I  shall  have 
come  home  and  talked  the  whole  matter  over  with  you 
before  I  go  under. — Your  affectionate  brother." 


246  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  A  singular  man/'  Mr.  Prendergast  said,  as  he  laid 
the  letter  down  on  the  table  beside  him.  "  What  trouble 
these  crotchety  people  do  give.  I  suppose  you  have 
altogether  put  aside  that  folly  of  his  about  the  jewels  ?" 

"  Well,  no,  I  can't  say  that  I  have,  Mr.  Prendergast. 
Do  you  know  that  I  have  a  fancy — it  may  only  be  a 
fancy,  but  if  so  I  cannot  shake  it  off — that  I  am  watched 
by  Lascars.  There  was  one  standing  at  the  corner  of 
the  street  as  I  came  up  this  morning,  and  again  and 
again  I  have  run  across  one.  It  is  not  always  the  same 
man,  nor  have  I  any  absolute  reasons  for  believing  that 
they  are  watching  me  ;  still,  somehow  or  other,  I  do 
come  across  them  more  frequently  than  seems  natural." 

"  Pooh,  nonsense,  Mark  !  I  should  have  thought  that 
you  were  too  sensible  a  fellow  to  have  such  ridiculous 
fancies  in  your  head." 

"  Of  course,  I  should  never  have  thought  of  such  a 
thing,  Mr.  Prendergast,  if  it  had  not  been  for  what  my 
father  told  me, — that  my  uncle  was  desperately  in  earnest 
about  it,  and  had  an  intense  conviction  that  someone 
watched  his  every  movement." 

"  Don't  let  us  talk  of  such  folly  any  longer,"  the 
lawyer  said,  irritably.  "  Now  that  you  have  got  the 
money,  the  best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  go  at  once  and 
carry  out  what  was  the  wish  of  both  your  father  and 
your  uncle,  and  ask  your  cousin  to  marry  you  ;  that  will 
put  an  end  to  the  whole  business,  and  I  can  tell  you  that 
I  am  positively  convinced  that  the  day  she  is  twenty- 
one  she  will  renounce  the  property,  and  that,  if  you  re- 
fuse to  take  it,  she  will  pass  it  over  to  some  hospital  or 
other.     You  cannot  do  better  than  prevent  her  from 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  247. 

carrying  out  such  an  act  of  folly  as  that,  and  the  only 
way  I  can  see  is  by  your  marrying  her.  I  gathered  from 
what  you  said  when  I  gave  you  the  same  advice  at  Rei- 
gate,  that  you  liked  her,  and  should  have  done  it  had  it 
not  been  for  her  coming  into  the  estate  instead  of  you. 
Well,  you  are  now  in  a  position  to  ask  her  to  marry  you, 
without  the  possibility  of  its  being  supposed  that  you  are 
a  fortune-hunter." 

"  I  will  think  about  it,  Mr.  Prendergast.  Of  course, 
this  money  does  make  a  considerable  difference  m  my 
position  ;  however,  I  shall  do  nothing  until  I  have  got 
the  jewels  off  my  hands." 

"Well,  a  couple  of  days  will  manage  that,"  the  law- 
yer said  ;  "you  have  only  got  to  take  the  box  to  a  first- 
class  jeweller  and  get  him  to  value  the  things  and  make 
you  an  offer  for  the  whole  of  them." 

Mark  did  not  care  to  press  the  subject,  and  on  leaving 
went  to  Cotter's  Bank,  He  was  at  once  shown  into  his 
friend's  room,  and  the  latter  took  him  to  his  father. 

"It  is  curious,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  latter  said, 
heartily,  "that  we  should  have  been  keeping  your 
money  all  this  time  without  the  slightest  idea  that  it  be- 
longed to  you.  We  are  ready  at  once  to  pay  it  over  to 
your  order,  for  if  you  pronounce  the  word  you  know 
of,  and  I  find  that  the  coin  you  have  corresponds  with 
the  seals  on  the  box,  the  necessary  proof  will  be  given 
us  that  you  have  authority  to  take  it  away.  I  have  had 
the  box  brought  up  this  morning  so  that  we  can  com- 
pare the  seals." 

The  box  was  taken  out  of  the  strong  safe,  and  it  was 
at  once  seen  that  the  coin  corresponded  with  the  seals. 


248  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  I  will  leave  it  with  you  for  the  present,  Mr.  Cotter ; 
it  contains  a  large  amount  of  jewels,  and  until  I  have 
decided  what  to  do  with  them  I  would  rather  leave  them ; 
it  would  be  madness  to  have  ;^50,ooo  worth  of  gems  in 
a  London  lodging,  even  for  a  single  night ;  as  to  the 
money,  that  also  had  better  remain  as  it  is  at  present 
invested.  As  I  told  your  son,  that  and  the  jewels  are 
the  joint  property  of  myself  and  another.  I  daresay 
that  in  a  few  days  half  of  the  money  will  be  transferred 
to  the  name  of  the  other  legatee  ;  that  can  be  easily 
done.  I  shall  get  my  lawyer,  Mr.  Prendergast,  to  call 
upon  you,  Mr.  Cotter.  I  suppose  it  would  be  better 
that  some  legal  proof  that  we  are  entitled  to  the  money 
should  be  given." 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  him  and  to  take  his  instruc- 
tions," the  banker  said  ;  "but,  in  point  of  fact,  I  regard 
the  property  as  being  yours.  I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
wills  or  other  arrangements.  I  simply  received  the  box 
and  the  cash  with  an  order  that  they  should  be  delivered 
to  whomsoever  should  come  with  the  word  *  Masulipa- 
tam'  and  a  coin  to  match  the  seals.  That  you  have 
done,  and  with  subsequent  dispositions  I  have  no  con- 
cern. I  shall  be  happy  to  keep  this  box  for  you  as  long 
as  you  should  think  proper,  and  I  have  also  written  out 
an  acknowledgment  that  I  hold  securities  of  the  value, 
at  the  closing  prices  yesterday,  of  ;{^i03,ooo  16.?."  And 
he  handed  the  paper  to  Mark. 

As  the  latter  left  the  bank  he  looked  up  and  down 
the  street,  and  muttered  an  angry  exclamation  as  he 
caught  sight  of  a  rough-looking  fellow  just  turning  a 
corner  into  a  side  street.    The  glance  was  so  momentary 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  249 

a  one  that  he  could  not  say  whether  the  man  was  a  col- 
oured seaman,  but  he  certainly  thought  that  he  was  a 
Lascar. 

"  I  am  going  to  have  trouble  about  that  bracelet,"  he 
said  to  himself,  as  he  hailed  a  hackney  coach  and  told 
him  to  drive  to  Islington.  "  I  am  convinced  that  the 
colonel  was  right,  and  that  there  are  some  men  over  in 
this  country  with  the  fixed  purpose  of  seeing  what  is 
done  with  those  jewels,  and  obtaining  them  if  possible. 
How  they  could  tell  that  they  were  deposited  at  Cotter's 
beats  me  altogether.  Jt  may  be,  indeed,  that  they  really 
knew  nothing  about  it,  and  have  simply  been  watching 
me.  They  can  hardly  have  been  watching  me  for  the 
last  nine  months,  and  yet,  curiously  enough,  though  I 
have  never  given  the  matter  a  thought  since,  Charley 
Gibbons  said  that  it  was  a  dark-coloured  man  who  had 
brought  the  news  that  took  them  to  my  rescue  and 
saved  my  life.  I  have  often  run  against  Lascars,  and 
if  they  have  taken  this  trouble  all  along,  now  that  they 
have  seen  me  come  out  of  the  bank,  I  shall  be  watched 
night  and  day. 

"  It  is  a  creepy  sort  of  idea,  I  should  not  be  afraid 
of  any  number  of  them  if  they  attacked  me  openly ; 
but  there  is  no  saying  what  they  might  do.  I  wish 
Ramoo  had  been  here.  I  would  have  consulted  him 
about  it ;  but  as  I  got  a  letter  from  him  only  last  week 
saying  that  he  had,  on  the  day  of  writing  it,  arrived  in 
Calcutta,  it  is  of  no  use  wishing  that  At  any  rate,  I 
cannot  do  better  than  stick  to  the  plan  that  my  uncle 
sketched  out,  and  take  them  across  to  Amsterdam.  It 
would  be  very  unfair  to  take  them  to  any  jeweller  here. 


250  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

He  might  have  them  in  his  possession  for  a  week  or  ten 
days  before  he  made  me  any  definite  offer  for  them, 
and  during  that  time  I  would  not  give  a  fig  for  his  life. 
If  I  distribute  the  stones  at  Amsterdam,  they  would 
hardly  set  about  attacking  twelve  diamond  merchants 
one  after  another.  Well,  at  any  rate,  I  must  say  noth- 
ing about  the  affair  to  Millicent  and  Mrs.  Cunningham. 
It  was  bad  enough  my  running  risks  in  the  pursuit  of 
Bastow ;  but  this  would  be  ten  times  worse,  for  I  know 
Millicent  would  be  for  letting  things  remain  for  good  at 
the  banker's.  But  I  have  no  idea  of  allowing  myself 
to  be  frightened  by  two  or  three  black  scoundrels  into 
throwing  away  ;^50,ooo." 

Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Millicent  were  sitting  in  their 
bonnets  in  the  parlour. 

"Here  you  are  at  last,  sir,"  the  girl  said.  "Another 
five  minutes  and  we  should  have  gone  out  You  told 
us  that  you  would  come  early,  and  now  it  is  twelve 
o'clock  ;  and  you  are  generally  so  punctual  in  your 
appointments.  What  have  you  got  to  say  for  your- 
self?" 

"A  good  many  things  have  happened  since  then, 
Millicent.  Last  night  your  friend  Mr.  Cotter  called 
upon  me." 

"  Why  do  you  say  my  friend  ?  He  was  your  friend, 
and  it  was  entirely  through  you  that  we  knew  him  at  all." 

"  Well,  we  will  say  '  our  friend,'  Millicent  ;  and  he 
made  a  communication  to  me  that  this  morning  I  had 
to  go  to  Mr.  Prendergast  and  make  a  communication  to 
him." 

"What   do   you    mean    by  your   communications?" 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  251 

Millicent  asked,  laughing.  "  You  are  quite  mysterious, 
Mark." 

"And  then  I  had  to  go,"  he  went  on,  without  heed- 
ing her  interruption,  "  to  Cotter's  Bank,  where  I  saw 
both  our  friend  and  his  father,  and  there  is  the  result 
of  these  communications  and  that  interview."  And  he 
threw  the  paper  to  her. 

"What  does  it  mean?"  she  asked  in  astonishment, 
after  glancing  through  it. 

"  It  means,  dear,  that  your  father  took  exactly  the 
precautions  I  thought  he  would  take,  and  after  sending 
his  money  and  jewels  home,  he  sent  a  sealed  letter  to 
the  firm  with  whom  he  deposited  them,  which  happened 
to  be  Cotter's,  with  instructions  that  should  no  one  pre- 
sent himself  with  the  word  and  coin  by  the  i8th  of 
August.  1789,  that  is  to  say  on  your  eighteenth  birth- 
day, the  envelope  should  be  opened  ;  it  was  so  opened, 
and  it  contained  a  letter  that  was  to  be  sent  to  my 
father,  or  in  the  case  of  his  death  before  that  date,  to 
his  executors." 

"  How  wonderful  !"  the  girl  said.  "  I  quite  gave  up 
all  idea  of  it.  But  how  is  it  that  it  came  to  be  so  much  ? 
Have  they  sold  the  jewels  ?' ' 

"  No ;  you  see  it  is  compound  interest  going  on  for 
seventeen  years,  and  perhaps  some  rise  in  the  value  of 
the  securities  that  has  doubled  the  original  sum  invested  ; 
as  for  the  jewels,  I  have  left  them  at  the  bank.  I  should 
not  care  about  having  ;^5o,ooo  worth  of  such  things  in 
my  rooms,  and  I  should  not  think  that  you  would  like 
to  have  them  here,  either." 

"  Certainly    not,"    Mrs.   Cunningham   said,   emphati- 


252  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

cally;  "you  did  quite  right,  Mark.  I  don't  think  I 
could  sleep,  even  if  you  had  half  a  dozen  of  your  de- 
tective friends  posted  round  the  house." 

"  Still,  I  suppose  we  shall  have  a  chance  of  seeing 
them?"  Millicent  said. 

"  Certainly.  I  can  make  an  appointment  with  Philip 
Cotter  for  you  to  see  them  at  the  bank  ;  or  if  I  take 
them  to  a  jeweller  to  value,  you  could  see  them  there. 
But  I  should  think  that  the  bank  would  be  the  best.  I 
am  sure  that  Cotter  would  put  his  room  at  your  dis- 
posal, and  of  course  if  you  would  like  to  have  some  of 
them  for  yourself  you  could  select  any  you  liked,  but  I 
expect  that  they  wont  look  much  in  their  present  set- 
tings ;  the  Indian  jewellers  have  not  the  knack  of  setting 
off  gems.  However,  there  is  no  hurry  about  them  one 
way  or  another.  The  money,  I  have  told  Cotter's  father, 
shall  for  the  present  remain  as  it  is  invested  ;  it  is  all  in 
the  funds,  Cotter  said,  for  although  the  instructions  were 
that  it  was  to  be  put  into  good  securities,  he  did  not  feel 
justified  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  going  out- 
side government  stock.  Mr.  Prendergast  is  quite  of 
opinion  that  it  would  be  better  to  make  no  change  until 
you  come  of  age.  I  did  not  know  that  you  would  wait 
till  then,  for  some  time  or  other  you  might  want  to  use 
some  of  them." 

Millicent  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"I  think  I  would  much  rather  have  had  just  the 
money  I  had  before,  Mark ;  all  this  will  be  a  great  nui- 
sance, I  am  sure.  I  think  there  ought  to  be  a  law 
against  people  having  more  than  ^20,000,  whether  in 
money  or  in  land." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  253 

Mark  laughed. 

"  It  would  be  a  bad  thing  for  spendthrift  young  noble- 
men, Millicent.  How  are  they  to  pay  off  their  debts 
and  mortgages  if  there  were  no  heiresses  ready  to  do  so 
in  exchange  for  a  title?" 

"  It  would  be  a  good  thing  for  them,  I  consider,"  the 
girl  said,  indignantly,  "  In  the  first  place,  they  would 
not  impoverish  themselves  if  they  knew  that  there  was  no 
way  of  building  up  their  fortune  again,  and,  in  the  next 
place,  if  they  did  ruin  themselves  they  would  have  to 
either  set  to  work  to  earn  an  honest  living  or  blow  out 
their  brains,  if  they  have  any  to  blow  out.  I  can  assure 
you  that  I  don't  feel  at  all  exultant  at  getting  all  this 
money,  and  I  think  that  my  father  was  quite  right  in 
wishing  that  I  should  know  nothing  about  it  until  I 
married  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  1  am  heartily  glad, 
more  glad  than  I  can  say,  Mark,  that  you  have  come 
into  your  share." 

"  I  am  glad  for  one  reason,  Millicent  ;  that  is,  that  this 
must  put  an  end  to  the  ridiculous  idea  you  have  of 
giving  up  Crowswood.  Your  father  has  made  me  rich 
beyond  anything  I  could  possibly  have  expected  from 
him.  I  suddenly  find  myself  a  wealthy  man,  and  I  can 
buy  another  estate  for  myself  worth  more  than  Crows- 
wood,  if  inclined  to  settle  down  as  a  squire  ;  therefore 
your  theory  that  I  have  been  disappointed  in  not  in- 
heriting what  I  thought  was  my  father's  estate  falls  to 
the  ground  altogether.  In  no  case  would  I  ever  have 
accepted  your  sacrifice.  If  you  had  liked  to  hand  it  over 
to  St  Bartholomew's  or  Guy's  Hospital,  or  to  give  it 
away  to  any  other  charity,  I  could  not  have  prevented 


254  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

you,  but  I  would  never  have  accepted  it  for  myself. 
Now,  thank  goodness,  the  question  cannot  arise,  for 
you  must  see  that,  even  looking  at  the  matter  from  a 
purely  business  point  of  view,  I  have  benefited  to  an 
enormous  and  altogether  unexpected  extent  by  your 
father's  will,  and  if  any  contest  between  us  could  arise, 
it  should  be  on  the  ground  that  he  has  acted  unfairly  to 
you  by  giving  me  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  money 
that,  in  the  course  of  nature,  you  should  have  inherited. 
It  was  not  even  as  if  he  had  known  and  liked  me,  for  I 
was  away  at  school  at  the  time  he  came  home  to  my 
father,  and  he  never  as  much  as  saw  me." 

*'  You  are  very  obstinate  and  very  disagreeable,  Mark," 
she  said,  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"  1  think  the  obstinacy  has  been  principally  on  your 
side,  Millicent,  though  certainly  I  should  not  think  of 
saying  that  you  have  been  disagreeable.  It  has  been  an 
excess  of  kind-heartedness  on  your  part,  and  you  have 
resolutely  closed  your  eyes  to  the  fact  that,  had  I  been 
willing  to  take  advantage  of  your  generosity,  I  should 
have  lacked  the  courage  to  do  so,  for  I  should  have 
been  pointed  at,  wherever  I  went,  as  a  mean  fellow  who 
took  advantage  of  his  little  cousin's  romantic  generosity. 
Pray,  dear,  let  us  say  no  more  about  it.  We  are  two 
rich  young  people  :  each  has  a  fine  fortune  in  the 
funds  ;  each  has  an  estate  ;  yours,  I  grant,  is  the  largest ; 
but,  if  I  choose,  I  can  increase  mine  until  it  is  quite  as 
large  as  Crowswood.  We  can  be  better  friends  than  we 
have  been  for  the  last  year,  because  this  point  of  dispute 
has  always  stood  between  us  and  made  us  uncomfortable. 
Now  you  will  have  to  think  over  what  you  would  like 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  255 

done  and  whether  you  wish  any  change  made  in  your 
manner  of  Hving." 

"Did  you  tell  Mr.  Cotter,"  Millicent  laughed,  after  a 
pause,  "  that  I  had  a  half-share  in  the  money?" 

"  No  ;  that  was  a  matter  for  you  to  decide,  not  for  me. 
I  told  him  that  I  was  only  a  half-shareholder,  but  there 
was  no  necessity  to  say  who  had  the  other  half-share. 
When  I  was  talking  to  Philip  Cotter  the  words  'my 
cousin'  slipped  out,  but  he  did  not  associate  it  in  any 
way  with  you.  It  might  have  been  the  son  of  another 
brother  or  of  a  sister  of  my  father's." 

"  In  that  case,  then,  we  will  certainly  make  no  change  ; 
will  we,  Mrs.  Cunningham?" 

"  I  think  that  is  a  matter  for  your  consideration, 
Millicent.  I  think  that  Mr.  Prendergast  and  Mark  will 
probably  be  of  opinion  that  you  ought  now  to  be  intro- 
duced regularly  into  society.  The  fact  that  you  are  a 
rich  heiress  might,  as  your  father  so  much  wished,  re- 
main a  secret.  But  it  is  one  thing  having  this  blazoned 
about  and  quite  another  for  you  to  be  living  quietly  here, 
where,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Cotter  and  a  few  other 
friends,  you  have  no  society  whatever.  Certainly  it  was 
not  the  wish  of  your  father  that  you  should  remain  un- 
married. You  are  quite  pretty  and  nice  enough  to  be 
sought  for  for  yourself  alone,  and  I  must  say  that  I 
think,  now  that  you  have  finished  with  your  various 
masters,  it  would  be  well  that  you  should  go  out  a  good 
deal  more,  and  that  as  a  first  step  we  should  go  down  to 
Bath  this  year  instead  of  paying  another  visit  to  Wey- 
mouth, as  we  had  arranged." 

"I  don't  want  any  change  at  all,  Mrs.  Cunningham. 


256  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

If  I  am  to  get  married,  I  shall  be  married  ;  if  I  am  not, 
I  shall  not  fret  about  it." 

"But  for  all  that,  Millicent,"  Mark  said,  "Mrs.  Cun- 
ningham is  right.  We  quite  agree  that  there  is  no  occa- 
sion whatever  for  you  to  go  about  labelled,  'A  good 
estate  and  over  ^70,000  in  cash ;'  but  I  do  think  that  it 
is  right  that  you  should  go  into  society.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  Philip  Cotter,  Dick  Chetwynd,  and  two  or 
three  other  of  my  friends,  you  really  know  very  few 
people.  You  have  now  gone  out  of  mourning,  and  I 
think  that  Mrs.  Cunningham's  proposal  that  you  should 
go  down  to  Bath  is  a  very  good  one.  I  shall  not  be 
sorry  for  a  change  myself,  for  I  have  been  engrossed  in 
my  work  for  a  long  time  now.  I  can  go  down  a  day  or 
two  before  you  and  get  you  comfortable  lodgings,  and 
will  myself  stay  at  a  hotel.  Although  I  have  no  in- 
timate friends  beyond  those  from  Reigate,  I  know  a 
large  number  of  men  of  fashion  from  meeting  them  at 
the  boxing  schools  and  other  places,  and  could  introduce 
you  both  and  get  you  into  society." 

"I  am  altogether  opposed  to  the  idea,"  Millicent  said, 
decidedly.  "  You  want  to  trot  me  out  like  a  horse  for 
sale." 

"  No,  Millicent,"  Mark  said,  calmly.  "  I  only  want 
you  to  have  the  same  advantages  that  other  girls  have, 
neither  more  nor  less,  and  for  you  to  enjoy  yourself  as 
others  do.  There  is  nothing  undignified  or  objec- 
tionable about  that,  especially  as  we  are  agreed  that 
nothing  shall  be  said  about  your  fortune.  Well,  we  will 
think  it  over.  Mr.  Prendergast  and  I  certainly  do  not 
wish  to  act  as  tyrants,  and  there  is  no  occasion  to  come 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  257 

to  a  decision  in  a  hurry.  We  have  only  discovered  our 
good  fortune  to-day,  and  can  scarcely  appreciate  the  dif- 
ference that  it  will  make  to  us.  We  can  think  over  what 
will  be  for  the  best  at  our  leisure,  and  see  if  we  cannot 
hit  upon  some  plan  that  will  be  agreeable  to  you." 

"Thank  you,  Mark,"  she  said,  gratefully.  "I  am 
afraid  that  you  must  think  me  very  disagreeable  and 
cross  ;  but  though  you,  as  a  man,  have  not  the  same 
sort  of  feelings,  I  can  assure  you  that  I  feel  all  this 
money  and  so  on  to  be  a  heavy  burden  ;  and  were  it  not 
for  your  sake  I  could  wish  heartily  that  this  treasure  had 
never  been  discovered  at  all." 

"  I  can  quite  understand  that,"  he  said,  quietly.  "At 
the  present  moment,  even  I  do  not  see  that  it  will  be  of 
much  advantage  to  me  ;  but  it  may  be  that  some  day  I 
shall  see  it  in  a  different  light.  It  has  come  upon  me 
almost  as  suddenly  as  it  has  upon  you.  I  thought  that 
after  I  had  finished  with  the  Bastow  affair  I  should  set 
to  work  to  find  out  this  treasure,  and  that  it  would  prob- 
ably take  me  out  to  India,  occupy  me  there  for  some 
time,  and  that  afterwards  I  might  travel  through  other 
places  and  be  away  from  England  for  three  or  four 
years.  Now  the  matter  is  altogether  altered,  and  I  shall 
be  some  time  before  I  form  any  fresh  plans.  In  fact, 
these  must  depend  upon  circumstances." 

Mrs.  Cunningham  had  left  the  room  two  or  three 
minutes  before,  thinking  that  Mark  might  be  able  to 
talk  her  charge  into  a  more  reasonable  state  of  mind 
were  he  alone  with  her,  and  he  added,  "  Of  one  circum- 
stance in  particular." 

She  looked  up  enquiringly. 

17 


258  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  Well,  Millicent,  it  depends  a  great  deal  upon  you. 
I  know  you  think  that  all  that  has  happened  during  the 
past  year  has  been  a  little  hard  upon  you,  and  I  thor- 
oughly agree  with  you  ;  you  were  fond  of  Crowswood, 
and  were  very  happy  there,  and  the  change  to  this  some- 
what dull  house,  just  at  a  time  when  you  are  of  an  age 
to  enjoy  pleasure,  has  been  a  trial.  Then,  too,  there 
has  been  this  question  of  the  estate  upon  your  mind  ; 
but  you  must  remember,  it  has  been  somewhat  of  a  trial 
to  me  also.  I  grant  that  I  have  had  plenty  of  occupa- 
tion, which  has  been  in  every  way  beneficial  to  me, 
and  have  not  in  any  way  lamented  leaving  the  country, 
but  in  one  respect  it  has  been  a  trial.  I  don't  know 
whether  it  ever  entered  your  mind,  before  that  sad  time 
at  home,  that  I  was  getting  to  care  for  you  in  a  very 
different  way  to  that  in  which  I  had  done  before. 

"  My  father,  I  think,  observed  it,  for  he  threw  out  a 
very  plain  hint  once  that  he  would  very  gladly  see  us 
coming  together.  However,  I  never  spoke  of  it  to  you. 
I  was  young  and  you  were  young.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  there  was  plenty  of  time,  and  that,  moreover,  it 
would  not  be  fair  for  me  to  speak  to  you  until  you  had 
had  the  opportunity  of  going  out  and  of  seeing  other 
men.  Then  came  the  evening  before  his  death,  when 
my  father  told  me  how  matters  really  stood,  and  he 
again  said  that  there  was  a  way  by  which  all  trouble 
could  be  obviated.  But  I  saw  that  it  was  not  so,  and 
that  the  hope  I  had  entertained  must  be  put  aside.  I 
had  never  told  you  I  loved  you  when  I  seemed  to  be 
the  heir  of  the  property  and  you  only  the  daughter  of 
an  old  comrade  of  his,  and  I  saw  thc^t  were  I  to  speak 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  259 

now,  when  you  were  the  heiress,  it  could  not  but  appear 
to  you  that  it  was  the  estate  and  not  you  that  I  wanted, 
and  I  felt  my  lips  were  sealed  for  ever.  Mr.  Prender- 
gast  said  that  day  when  he  came  down  to  the  funeral, 
and  you  told  him  that  you  would  not  take  the  property, 
that  it  might  be  managed  in  another  way,  and  you  said 
that  you  did  not  want  to  be  married  for  your  money  ;  so 
you  see  you  saw  it  in  exactly  the  same  light  as  I  did. 

"  My  first  thought  this  morning,  when  Mr.  Cotter 
told  me  that  the  money  had  mounted  up  to  over 
;^  1 00, 000,  was  that  it  would  unseal  my  lips.  You 
were  still  better  off  than  I  was,  but  the  difference  was 
now  immaterial.  I  was  a  rich  man,  and  had  not  the 
smallest  occasion  to  marry  for  money.  Whether  I 
married  a  girl  without  a  penny,  or  an  heiress,  could 
make  but  little  difference  to  me,  as  I  have  certainly  no 
ambition  to  become  a  great  landowner.  I  still  think 
that  it  would  have  been  more  fair  to  you  to  give  you 
the  opportunity  of  seeing  more  of  the  society  of  the 
world  before  speaking  to  you,  but  you  see  you  are  op- 
posed to  that,  and  therefore  it  would  be  the  same  did 
I  wait  another  year,  which  I  don't  think  I  shall  be  able 
to  do.  I  love  you,  Millicent.  It  is  only  during  the 
past  year,  when  I  have  thought  that  I  had  lost  you, 
that  I  have  known  how  much  I  love  you,  and  how 
much  my  happiness  depends  upon  you.  I  can  truly 
say  that  were  you  penniless,  it  would  make  no  shadow 
of  difference  to  me.  It  is  no  longer  a  question  of 
arranging  matters  comfortably  ;  it  is  a  question  of  love. 
The  estate  is  nothing  to  me.  It  never  has  been  any- 
thing, and  it  does  not  count  at  all  in  the  scale.     I  hope 


26o  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

that  you  will  put  it  altogether  out  of  your  mind  in 
giving  me  an  answer,  and  that  if  you  cannot  say  as 
truly  and  wholly  as  I  do,  '  I  love  you,'  that  you  will 
say  as  frankly  as  you  have  always  spoken  to  me,  '  I 
love  you  very  much  as  a  cousin,  Mark,  but  not  in  that 
way.'  " 

The  girl  had  sat  perfectly  quiet  while  he  was  speak- 
ing. He  was  standing  before  her  now,  and  he  took  one 
of  her  hands. 

"  I  love  you,  dear.  I  love  you  with  all  my  heart. 
Do  you  love  me  ?"  Then  she  looked  up  and  rose  to 
her  feet,  and  placed  both  hands  upon  his  shoulders. 

"As  you  love  me,  so  I  love  you,  Mark." 

After  that,  conversation  languished  till  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham came  into  the  room,  five  minutes  later. 

"  We  have  come  to  the  conclusion,  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham," he  said,  "  that  there  will  be  no  necessity  for  the 
visit  to  Bath.  Millicent  is  otherwise  provided  for  :  she 
has  promised  to  be  my  wife." 

"  I  am  glad,  Mark,  glad,  indeed."  And  she  took  Milli- 
cent in  her  arms  and  kissed  her  tenderly.  "  I  have  all 
along  hoped  for  it,  but  I  began  to  be  afraid  that  you 
were  both  such  obstinate  young  people  that  it  would 
never  come  about.  I  know  that  your  father  wished  it, 
Mark,  and  he  told  me  that  his  brother  had  said  that  it 
would  be  a  good  arrangement  if  some  day  you  should 
come  to  like  each  other.  I  have  guessed  for  the  last 
year,  and,  indeed,  before  then,  that  Millicent  would  not 
say  '  No'  if  you  ever  asked  her ;  but  this  stupid  estate 
seemed  to  stand  in  the  way.  Of  late,  I  have  even 
come  to  hope  that  the  obstinate  girl  would  keep  to  her 


As  you  love  me.  so  I  love  you,  Mark 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  261 

intention,  and  that  if,  as  I  knew  would  be  the  case,  you 
refused  to  take  the  estate,  she  would  give  it  away  to 
some  charity.  In  that  case,  there  could  be  nothing  to 
prevent  your  speaking  ;  and  even  then  you  would  have 
been,  between  you,  very  fairly  equipped  with  this  world's 
goods.  However,  the  present  is  a  far  better  solution, 
and  the  discovery  of  the  treasure  has  saved  you  from 
three  years'  waiting  before  things  were  straightened  out. 
I  feel  as  if  I  were  her  mother,  Mark,  having  had  her 
in  my  charge  since  she  was  a  baby ;  and  as  she  grew 
up  it  became  my  fondest  hope  to  see  you  united  some 
day,  and  I  think  that  I  am  almost  as  pleased  that  my 
hope  has  been  fulfilled  as  you  are  yourselves." 


CHAPTER    XVIL 


AFTER  thinking  over  the  best  way  in  which  to  set 
about  the  work  of  carrying  the  diamonds  to 
Amsterdam,  Mark  decided  upon  asking  the  ad- 
vice of  his  late  chief  The  latter  said,  as  Mark  entered 
his  room, — 

"  I  did  not  expect  to  see  you  here  again,  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke." 

"  Well,  sir,  I  have  come  to  ask  your  advice  about 
another  matter  altogether." 

"What  is  it  now?" 

"  I  have  to  convey  a  diamond  bracelet  of  very  great 

value  across  to  Amsterdam.     I  have  reason  to  believe 

that  there  is  a  plot  to  seize  it  on  the  way,  and  that  the 

men  engaged  will  hesitate  at  nothing  to  achieve  their 

object.      Under  these  circumstances  I  should  be  verj' 

much  obliged  if  you  will  tell  me  what  would  be  the  best 

course  to  pursue,     I  must  say  that  the  bracelet  is,  with 

many  other  jewels,  in  a  strong  teak  box  of  about  a  foot 

square,  at  present  in  the  possession  of  our  bankers  ;  they 
262 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  263 

were  brought  from  India  by  my  uncle.  I  imagine  that 
the  rest  of  the  jewels  are  of  comparatively  little  impor- 
tance in  the  eyes  of  these  men,  though  doubtless  they 
would  take  them  also  if  they  laid  their  hands  on  them. 
The  bracelet,  however,  is  of  special  interest  to  them, 
not  so  much  for  its  intrinsic  value,  but  because  it  was 
stolen  from  one  of  their  sacred  idols. 

"This  was  about  twenty  years  ago;  but  I  have  reason 
to  believe  that  the  search  for  it  on  the  part  of  some 
Hindoos  connected  with  the  temple  has  never  ceased ; 
the  soldier  who  took  it  was  murdered,  his  comrade, 
into  whose  hands  it  next  passed,  was  also  murdered. 
It  next  came  to  my  uncle,  who  forwarded  it  at  once 
to  England.  His  bungalows  were  searched  again  and 
again,  until  probably  the  fellows  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  must  have  either  buried  it  or  sent  it  away. 
Nevertheless,  to  the  day  of  his  death  he  was  firmly  con- 
vinced that  he  was  closely  followed,  and  every  move- 
ment watched.  He  warned  my  father  solemnly  that  he, 
too,  would  be  watched,  but  as  far  as  we  know  it  was  not 
so  ;  at  any  rate,  we  had  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
house  was  ever  entered.  On  the  other  hand,  I  am  con- 
vinced I  have  been  watched  more  or  less  closely  ever 
since  I  came  up  to  town,  and  as  I  came  out  from  the 
bank  yesterday  I  saw  a  man,  a  coloured  fellow,  I  believe, 
on  the  watch. 

"  My  uncle  said  that  my  life  would  not  be  worth  an 
hour's  purchase  so  long  as  I  had  the  bracelet  in  my 
possession,  and  advised  that  it  should  be  taken  straight 
over  to  Amsterdam,  broken  up,  and  the  diamonds  sold 
singly  to  the  merchants  there." 


264  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  It  is  a  curious  story,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I  own  to 
ignorance  of  these  Indian  thieves  and  their  ways,  but  it 
certainly  seems  extraordinary  that  so  hopeless  a  quest 
should  be  kept  up  for  so  long  a  time.  You  are  sure 
that  it  is  not  fancy  on  your  part  that  you  have  been 
watched  ?  I  know  you  are  not  the  sort  of  man  to  take 
fancies  in  your  head,  but  as  you  have  had  the  matter 
so  strongly  impressed  upon  you,  you  might  naturally 
have  been  inclined  to  think  this  would  be  the  case  when 
it  was  not  so." 

"  No,  I  don't  think  there  is  any  chance  of  my  being 
mistaken.  It  is  only  of  late  that  I  have  thought  about 
it,  but  when  I  did  so,  and  thought  over  what  had  passed 
since  I  came  to  London,  I  recalled  the  fact  that  I  had 
very  often  come  across  foreign  seamen  ;  sometimes  they 
were  Lascars,  at  others  they  might  have  been  Italian 
or  Spanish  seamen  ;  and  you  see,  sir,  it  was,  as  I  told 
you  at  the  time,  some  foreign  sailor  who  came  and  in- 
formed Gibbons  that  I  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a 
gang  of  criminals,  and  that  I  should  certainly  be  killed 
if  I  was  not  rescued  immediately.  Gibbons  at  once  got 
together  half  a  dozen  fighting  men,  and,  as  you  know, 
rescued  me  just  in  time.  It  was  extraordinary  that  the 
man  never  came  forward  to  obtain  any  reward." 

"That  was  a  friendly  act,  Mr.  Thorndyke." 

"  Yes  ;  I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  these  men 
would  be  hostile  to  me  personally.  I  was  not  the  thief; 
I  was  simply  the  person  who  happened  to  be  in  posses- 
sion or  rather  might  come  into  possession  of  the  brace- 
let. From  the  close  watch  they  had  kept,  they  were,  I 
imagine,  well  aware  that  I  had  not  got  it,  but  may  have 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  265 

thought,  and  doubtless  did  think,  that  I  had  some  clue 
to  its  hiding  place,  and  should  sooner  or  later  get  it 
With  my  death,  the  clue  might  be  finally  lost,  and  my 
life  was  consequently  of  extreme  importance  to  them, 
and  therefore  they  took  steps  to  have  me  rescued,  and 
the  fact  that  they  learned  this  and  knew  how  friendly  I 
was  with  Gibbons  shows  how  close  was  the  watch  kept 
over  me.  No  doubt,  had  Gibbons  refused  to  help  them, 
they  would  have  come  here  at  once," 

"Certainly  after  what  you  say  it  would  seem  that 
your  conjecture  is  right,  and  in  that  case  if  I  were  you 
I  should  take  the  bracelet  out  of  the  case  and  conceal  it 
about  me.     I  would  not  fetch  it  myself  from  the  bank." 

"I  don't  think  I  should  be  much  safer  so,"  Mark 
said,  thoughtfully.  "  In  the  first  place,  I  must  go  to 
the  bank  to  get  it,  and  I  might  be  murdered  merely 
on  the  supposition  that  I  had  brought  the  bracelet 
away.  In  the  next  place,  even  if  I  got  to  Amsterdam 
safely  and  got  rid  of  the  bracelet  and  returned  un- 
noticed by  them,  a  fresh  danger  would  arise  when  I 
got  the  other  gems  into  my  possession,  for  they  could 
not  be  certain  whether  the  diamonds  were  still  among 
them  or  not" 

"  I  should  hardly  think  that  would  be  the  case  if  they 
watch  you  as  strictly  as  you  believe.  Even  if  none  of 
them  accompanied  you,  they  would  soon  find  out  what 
diamond  merchants  you  went  to,  and  the  leader  might 
call  upon  these  men,  stating  that  he  was  commissioned 
to  purchase  some  diamonds  of  exceptional  value  for  an 
Eastern  prince,  in  which  case  he  would  be  sure  to  obtain 
sight  of  them. 


266  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  If  I  had  your  business  to  perform,  I  would  not  go 
near  the  bank  again,  but  would  send  some  friend  I 
could  trust  to  go  and  open  the  box  and  take  out  the 
bracelet  and  make  it  into  a  small  parcel.  He  should 
hand  it  to  you  privately  as  you  are  on  your  way  to  em- 
bark for  Amsterdam.  Then  I  would  take  with  me 
one  or  two  of  my  men  and,  say,  a  couple  of  your  prize- 
fighters, and  with  such  a  guard  you  ought  to  be  fairly 
safe." 

"  I  think  that  is  a  capital  plan,"  Mark  said,  "  and  if  I 
don't  go  to  the  bank  there  will  be  nothing  to  lead  them 
to  suppose  that  I  have  taken  them  out  or  that  I  am 
just  going  across  to  Holland." 

Mark  then  went  straight  to  Dick  Chetwynd's 
lodgings. 

"  I  want  you  to  be  of  service  to  me,  Dick,"  he  said. 

"With  pleasure,  Mark.  What  sort  of  service  is  it? 
If  it  is  anything  in  my  power,  you  know  that  you  can 
absolutely  rely  upon  me.  You  are  not  going  to  fight  a 
duel,  are  you,  and  want  a  second  ?" 

"  No  ;  quite  another  sort  of  business.  I  will  tell  you 
shortly  what  it  is.  I  have  to  convey  an  extremely 
valuable  diamond  bracelet  to  Amsterdam,  and  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  there  will  be  an  attempt  to  mur- 
der me  and  to  carry  off  the  jewels  before  I  can  dispose 
of  them.  It  happened  in  this  way."  And  he  then  related 
the  history  of  the  diamonds,  the  reason  he  was  followed, 
and  the  suggestions  that  the  chief  of  the  Bow  Street 
detectives  had  given  him. 

"That  is  all  right,"  Dick  said,  when  he  had  concluded. 
"  It  is  a  rum  business,  but  certainly  I  will  do  what  you 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  267 

ask  me  ;  and  what  is  more,  I  will  go  over  with  you  to 
Amsterdam  and  see  the  thing  through.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing business,  if  it  is  a  queer  one." 

"You  know  Phihp  Cotter?" 

"  Of  course,  Mark  ;  why,  I  have  met  him  with  you 
several  times." 

"  I  will  give  you  a  note  to  ask  him  to  allow  you  to 
open  the  case  and  to  take  from  it  the  bracelet  I  don't 
"know  whether  it  is  a  regular  gold-mounted  bracelet  or 
simply  some  diamonds  that  have  been  fastened  together 
as  a  necklace.  However,  I  suppose  you  are  sure  to 
recognise  them.  They  are  altogether  exceptional  stones, 
and  are  sure  to  be  done  up  in  a  packet  by  themselves, 
whatever  the  others  may  be.  Say  that  you  will  call  in 
and  take  them  away  some  other  time,  of  which  I  will 
give  him  notice  by  letter.  I  will  write  the  note  now, 
and  if  you  can  spare  time  to  go  there  to-day  all  the 
better,  for  I  shall  be  glad  to  get  the  business  over ;  then 
I  will  come  again  to-morrow  morning  and  we  will  ar- 
range the  details  of  the  plan.  I  will  look  in  the  ship- 
ping list  and  see  what  vessels  are  sailing  for  Amsterdam, 
When  we  have  fixed  on  one,  it  will  be  best  for  you  to 
take  our  passages  under  any  names  you  like,  so  that 
they  are  not  our  own.  The  detectives  will  take  their 
passages  separately,  and  so  will  Gibbons  and  whoever 
else  goes  with  us." 

"I  will  go  at  once,  Mark." 

"  Don't  go  straight  there,  Dick.  If  these  fellows  are 
dogging  my  footsteps  everywhere,  and  saw  me  coming 
here,  they  might  take  it  into  their  heads  to  follow  you." 

"  Oh,  they  never  can  be  doing  all  that  sort  of  thing ; 


268  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

that's  too  much  to  believe.  However,  to  please  you  I 
will  go  into  my  club  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Shall  I 
come  round  to  your  rooms  this  evening,  or  will  you 
come  here?" 

"  I  think  I  will  put  off  our  meeting  altogether  until 
to-morrow  morning.  I  have  an  engagement  this  even- 
ing that  I  cannot  very  well  get  out  of" 

"All  right,  Mark;  just  as  you  please.  What  time 
will  you  come  round  in  the  morning  ?" 

"About  the  time  you  have  finished  breakfast,  I  will 
go  now  and  have  a  look  at  the  shipping  list." 

They  parted  at  the  door,  and  Mark  went  to  the  coffee- 
house where  shipping  matters  were  specially  attended 
to,  and  where  master  mariners  might  often  be  met,  con- 
versing together  or  with  ship-owners  or  merchants.  On 
going  through  the  list  he  found  that  the  fast-sailing  brig 
"  Essex,"  of  two  hundred  and  four  tons,  and  mounting 
eight  guns,  would  sail  for  Amsterdam  in  three  days'  time, 
and  would  take  in  goods  for  that  place,  and,  should 
sufficient  freight  be  obtained,  for  any  other  Dutch  port. 
It  was  also  announced  that  she  had  good  accommoda- 
tions for  passengers.  Information  as  to  cargo  could  be 
obtained  from  her  owners,  on  Tower  Hill,  or  from  the 
captain  on  board,  between  the  hours  of  ten  and  twelve. 
Then,  in  small  type,  it  was  stated  that  the  "Essex"  was 
at  present  lying  in  the  outside  tier,  nearly  opposite  An- 
derson's wharf 

Mark  made  a  note  of  all  these  particulars  in  his  pocket- 
book,  and  then  went  to  Ingleston's  public-house. 

"  Morning,  Mr.  Thorn  dyke,"  the  man  said.  "  Haven't 
seen  yer  for  the  la.st  month  or  so." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  269 

"  No  ;  I  have  been  out  of  town.  Do  you  expect 
Gibbons  in  here  this  morning?" 

"  It  is  about  his  time,  sir,  when  he  has  nothing  in  par- 
ticular to  see  about.  Like  a  turn  with  the  mawleys  this 
morning  ?" 

' '  Not  this  morning,  Ingleston.  I  have  got  some  en- 
gagements for  the  next  day  or  two  where  I  could  not 
very  well  show  myself  with  a  black  eye  or  a  swelled 
nose  ;  you  have  given  me  a  good  many  of  both." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  when  one  stands  up  against 
a  man  who  is  as  strong  as  oneself,  and  a  mighty  quick 
and  hard  hitter,  you  have  got  to  hit  sharp  and  quick, 
too.  You  know  my  opinion,  that  there  ain't  more  than 
half  a  dozen  men  in  the  country  could  lick  you  if  you 
had  a  proper  training." 

"  I  suppose  you  couldn't  get  away  for  a  week,  or  may 
be  two,"  he  said. 

"  Lor'  bless  you,  no,  sir  ;  who  would  there  be  to  keep 
order  here  at  night  ?  When  I  first  came  here  I  had  not 
given  up  the  ring,  and  I  fought  once  or  twice  after- 
wards. But  Lor'  bless  you,  I  soon  found  that  I  had 
got  either  to  give  up  the  pub  or  the  ring,  and  as  I  was 
doing  a  tidy  business  here,  I  thought  it  best  to  retire  ; 
since  then  business  has  grown.  You  see  boxing  is  more 
fashionable  than  it  used  to  be,  and  there  are  very  few 
nights  when  one  don't  have  a  dozen  Corinthians  in  here, 
— sometimes  there  are  twice  as  many, — either  to  see 
some  of  the  new  hands  put  on  the  mawleys,  and  judge 
for  themselves  how  they  are  going  to  turn  out,  or  maybe 
to  arrange  for  a  bout  between  some  novice  they  fancy 
and  one  of  the  west  countrymen.     No,  sir,  I  could  not 


2/0  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

do  it ;  anyhow,  I  should  not  like  to  be  away  even  for 
one  night,  though  I  know  Gibbons  would  look  after 
things  for  me  ;  as  for  being  away  for  a  week,  I  could  not 
do  it  for  any  money.  No,  sir  ;  my  fight  with  Jackson, 
this  spring,  was  the  last  time  I  shall  ever  go  into  the 
ring.  I  was  a  fool  to  go  in  for  that,  but  I  got  taunted 
into  it.  I  never  thought  that  I  should  lick  him,  though  ; 
as  you  know,  sir,  I  have  licked  a  good  many  men  in  my 
time,  but  Jackson  is  an  out-and-out  man,  and  he  has 
got  a  lot  more  science  than  I  ever  had  ;  my  only  chance 
was  that  I  could  knock  him  out  of  time  or  wear  him 
down  ;  but  he  was  too  quick  on  his  pins  for  me  to  do 
the  former.  Ah,  Gibbons,  here  is  Mr.  Thorndyke.  He 
wants  to  see  you  ;  you  had  best  go  into  my  room  be- 
hind the  bar." 

"Want  to  get  hold  of  a  fresh  hand,  Mr.  Thorndyke?" 
Gibbons  asked,  when  they  had  sat  down  by  the  fire. 

"  No,  Gibbons ;  it  is  another  business  altogether. 
Have  you  got  anything  particular  to  keep  you  in  town 
for  the  next  fortnight  ?  It  may  not  be  over  a  week,  but 
it  may  be  over  a  fortnight." 

"  No,  sir,"  the  man  said,  after  taking  three  or  four 
draws  at  his  long  pipe.  "  No,  sir,  they  won't  want 
rope  and  stakes  for  another  three  weeks,  so  I  am  your 
man,  if  you  want  me.     What  is  it  for,  sir  ?" 

"  Well,  it  is  rather  a  curious  affair,  Gibbons.  I  have  to 
take  a  very  valuable  bracelet  over  to  Amsterdam,  to  sell 
there,  and  I  have  very  strong  reasons  for  believing  that 
if  some  fellows  get  an  inkling  of  it  they  will  try  to  put 
me  out  of  the  way,  and  get  hold  of  the  diamonds.  I 
want  a  couple  of  good  men  to  go  with  me." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  271 

"  Well,  sir,  I  should  say  you  and  me  could  lick  a 
dozen  ordinary  chaps,  without  thinking  anything  of  it" 

"  I  daresay  we  could.  Gibbons,  in  a  stand-up  fight 
without  weapons,  but  I  fancy  these  fellows  will  not  try 
that.  They  are  foreigners,  and  the  first  thing  they 
would  try  would  be  to  put  a  dagger  between  my  shoul- 
ders as  I  walked  up  and  down  on  deck  at  night,  or, 
more  likely  still,  creep  into  my  cabin  and  stab  me  while 
I  was  asleep.  If  the  voyage  were  only  to  last  one  night 
I  might  sit  up,  pistol  in  hand,  but  if  the  wind  is  foul  we 
might  be  a  week.  We  are  a  pretty  strong  party.  Mr. 
Chetwynd — you  know  him — is  going  with  me  ;  there 
will  also  be  two  runners  from  Bow  Street,  and  I  want 
you  to  take  another  good  man  with  you.  Of  course,  on 
board  we  shall  separate.  The  Bow  Street  men  will 
watch  the  passengers,  and  you  and  your  mate  will  smoke 
your  pipes  and  keep  yourselves  ready  to  join  in  if  you 
see  there  is  going  to  be  a  row.  But  I  rather  think  that 
the  passage  will  be  a  quiet  one.  At  Amsterdam,  until  I 
have  got  rid  of  the  diamonds,  I  certainly  should  not  care 
about  going  out  into  the  street  after  nightfall  without 
having  you  close  behind  me." 

"All  right.  I  should  say  Tom  Tring  would  be  as 
good  a  man  as  one  could  get  at  the  job.  What  is  the 
money  to  be,  Mr.  Thorndyke?" 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  yourself.  Gibbons?" 

"I  take  it  you  pay  all  the  expenses,  sir." 

"  Yes,  everything." 

"Would  five-and-twenty  guineas  a  head  be  too 
much?" 

"  No.      I  will  do  better  than  that.     I  will  give  you 


272  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

five-and-twenty  guineas  each  when  we  get  to  Amster- 
dam, and  I  will  give  you  another  twenty-five  each  if  I 
come  back  here  safe  and  sound." 

"Well,  I  call  that  handsome.  One  could  not  want 
more,  and  you  can  rely  on  it  that  Tring  will  jump  at  the 
offer.  He  has  not  been  able  to  get  a  fight  on  lately, 
and  he  is  rather  in  low  water." 

"  Well,  you  will  both  get  up  as  quiet  traders.  I 
don't  know  what  other  passengers  there  may  be,  but 
I  don't  want  them  to  know  that  you  belong  to  the 
fancy." 

"  I  twig,  sir.     We  will  get  up  quiet  like." 

"  Then  I  want  you  to-morrow  morning,  Gibbons,  to 
go  down  to  Holmes  &  Moore,  No.  67,  Tower  Street, 
and  take  two  first-class  tickets  to  Amsterdam  on  board 
the  'Essex,'  which  sails  on  Saturday.  I  don't  know 
what  the  passage  money  will  be,  but  this  is  sure  to  be 
enough  ;  and  we  can  settle  accounts  afterwards.  You 
will  find  out  what  time  of  day  she  will  start." 

"  All  right,  governor.  I  suppose  you  will  be  here 
again  before  that?" 

"  No,  I  don't  suppose  I  shall,  unless  there  is  some 
change  in  the  arrangements.  If  for  any  reasons  Tring 
cannot  go  with  you,  you  will  get  somebody  else  instead. 
You  are  sure  that  you  quite  understand  your  instruc- 
tions? Here  is  the  name  and  address  of  the  people  in 
Tower  Street." 

"All  right,  sir.  You  may  make  sure  that  when 
you  go  down  to  the  ship  you  will  see  the  two  of  us  on 
board." 

It   needed    but   a   few    minutes    at    Bow   Street    to 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  273 

inform   the   chief  of  the   arrangements  that  had   been 
made. 

"  I  have  told  off  Chester  and  Malcolm  ;  one  of  them 
shall  go  down  and  take  their  tickets.  Of  course,  they 
will  take  their  passages  in  the  fore  cabin,  as  the  danger, 
if  there  is  danger,  may  come  from  there,  and  you  will 
have  your  other  two  men  with  you  aft.  I  fancy  myself 
that  there  is  hardly  any  chance  of  your  being  in  any 
way  troubled  while  on  board.  It  will  be  considered 
that  there  will  be  a  vastly  greater  chance  of  carrying 
out  any  plan  they  may  have  formed  at  Amsterdam  than 
there  would  be  on  board  a  ship  ;  you  see  if  there  were 
any  struggle  whatever  on  board  there  would  be  no 
escape  for  them. 

"  For  myself,  of  course,  I  cannot  give  any  opinion 
worth  having  in  a  matter  so  different  from  anything  we 
have  to  do  with  here,  and  I  should  have  unhesitatingly 
scoffed  at  the  idea  of  anyone  watching  the  movements 
of  people  for  a  long  number  of  years  in  order  to  obtain 
the  possession  of  jewels,  however  valuable.  However, 
your  uncle  was  well  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  Hin- 
doos, and  was  not  a  man  to  be  lightly  alarmed  ;  you 
yourself,  after  your  year  with  us,  should  not  be  deceived 
in  such  a  matter  as  being  yourself  followed.  Under  these 
circumstances  you  are  quite  right  to  take  every  pre- 
caution, and  as  you  pay  well  for  the  services  of  our  two 
men,  even  if  I  had  no  belief  whatever  in  the  existence 
of  danger  to  you,  I  should  not  feel  justified  in  refusing 
to  let  you  have  them." 

Having  arranged  these  matters,  Mark  spent  the  rest 
of  his  time  that  day  and  the  next  at  Islington. 

18 


274  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  I  am  going  across  to  Amsterdam  on  Saturday  with 
a  diamond  bracelet  to  sell  there." 

Millicent  looked  at  him  in  reproachful  surprise. 

' '  Why,  surely,  Mark,  there  can  be  no  hurry  about 
that.  I  think  you  might  have  stayed  a  little  longer  be- 
fore running  away." 

"  I  should  do  so,  you  may  be  quite  sure,  Millicent,  if 
I  consulted  my  own  inclinations,  but  I  am  bearing  out 
your  father's  wishes.  This  bracelet  is  the  most  valuable 
of  all  the  things  he  had,  and  I  believe  that  it  has  some 
sort  of  history  attached  to  it ;  he  told  my  father  that  he 
had  sent  all  the  gems  home,  principally  to  get  these  dia- 
monds out  of  his  possession  ;  he  said  that  as  soon  as  my 
father  got  hold  of  the  things,  he  was  to  take  the  dia- 
monds straight  over  to  Amsterdam  and  sell  them  there, 
for  he  considered  that  they  were  much  too  valuable  to 
be  kept  in  the  house,  and  that  it  was  possible  that  some 
of  the  Hindoos  might  endeavour  to  get  possession  of 
them.  At  the  time  he  spoke  he  believed  that  my  father 
would,  at  his  death,  go  to  the  bank  and  get  the  jewels, 
as  of  course  he  would  have  done  if  he  had  known  where 
to  find  them  ;  my  father  promised  him  that  they  should 
be  taken  to  Amsterdam  at  once,  and,  although  so  many 
years  have  peissed  since  his  death,  I  think  I  am  bound  to 
carry  out  that  promise." 

"  I  have  never  been  able  to  understand,  Mark,  how  it 
was  that  my  father,  when  he  gave  all  these  instructions 
about  me  and  these  jewels,  and  so  on,  did  not  at  the 
same  time  tell  uncle  where  to  find  them." 

"  It  was  a  fancy  of  his  ;  he  was  in  very  bad  health, 
and  he  thought  so  much  over  these  diamonds  that  it  had 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  275 

become  almost  a  sort  of  mania  with  him  that  not  only 
was  there  danger  in  their  possession,  but  that  he  was 
watched  night  and  day  wherever  he  went.  He  thought 
even  if  he  whispered  where  the  hiding-place  was  to  be 
discovered  it  might  be  heard  ;  therefore  he  deferred  tell- 
ing it  until  too  late.  Of  course,  all  this  was  but  a  fancy 
on  his  part,  although  it  is  probable  enough  that  the  pos- 
session of  the  diamonds  was  a  source  of  danger  in  India, 
and  might  have  been  a  source  of  danger  here  had  any 
thieves  known  that  such  valuable  gems  were  kept  in  a 
private  house  or  carried  about  At  any  rate,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  be  free  of  the  responsibility  ;  and  although,  nat- 
urally, I  don't  like  leaving  you  at  the  present  time,  I 
think  it  best  to  carry  out  your  father's  instructions  at 
once,  and  to  get  them  off  my  mind  altogether.  Dick 
Chetwynd  is  going  with  me,  so  it  will  be  a  pleasant  little 
trip." 

"Well,  I  am  glad  he  is  going  with  you,  Mark;  for, 
although  I  know  well  enough  that  they  could  never  be 
watching  for  those  diamonds  to  turn  up  all  these  years, 
I  feel  sure  I  should  fidget  and  worry  if  you  were  alone. 
You  are  not  going  to  take  the  others  with  you  ?" 

"  No  ;  only  this  particular  bracelet.  None  of  the 
others  are  exceptionally  valuable,  so  far  as  I  know.  At 
any  rate,  your  father  did  not  specially  allude  to  them. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  some  really  valuable 
jewels  among  them,  for  my  uncle  prided  himself  on 
being  a  judge  of  precious  stones,  and,  as  he  invested  a 
large  amount  of  money  in  them,  they  are  no  doubt  val- 
uable. Still,  I  don't  suppose  there  will  be  any  difficulty 
in  selling  them  here,  and,  at  any  rate,  I  don't  want  to  be 


276  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

delayed  at  Amsterdam  by  having  to  sell  perhaps  fifty  or 
a  hundred  pieces  of  jewelry  ;  any  time  will  do  for  that 
I  fancy  that  I  ought  to  be  able  to  dispose  of  the  brace- 
let in  three  or  four  days  at  the  outside,  I  have  got 
from  Bow  Street  a  list  of  all  the  principal  diamond  mer- 
chants in  Amsterdam.  That  is  a  matter  of  great  interest 
to  the  force,  as  almost  all  precious  stones  stolen  in  this 
country  are  sent  across  there,  and  if  there  is  any  special 
jewel  robbery  we  send  over  a  list  of  all  the  articles 
stolen  to  the  merchants  there.  As  a  rule,  that  would 
not  prevent  their  dealing  in  them  ;  but  there  are  some 
who  will  not  touch  things  that  have  been  dishonestly 
come  by,  and  we  occasionally  get  hints  that  enable  us 
to  lay  hands  upon  thieves  over  there." 

"I  hate  to  hear  you  say  '  the  force,'  Mark,  just  as  if 
you  were  still  a  detective.  It  is  bad  enough  that  you 
should  have  belonged  to  it,  even  for  the  purpose  you 
did  ;  but  you  have  done  with  it  now." 

"  Yes  ;  but  you  see,  it  is  rather  difficult  to  get  out  of 
the  habit  when  one  has  been  for  over  a  year  constantly 
at  work  at  a  thing.  This  will  be  my  last  absence  on 
business,  Millicent ;  henceforward  I  shall  be  able  to  be 
always  with  you." 

"  Well,  now  that  I  know  what  you  have  been  doing 
all  this  time,  Mark,  I  must  admit  that  you  have  been 
very  good  to  have  been  with  us  as  much  as  you  have. 
I  often  used  to  wonder  how  you  passed  your  time.  Of 
course  I  knew  that  you  were  trying  to  find  that  man  out, 
but  it  did  not  seem  to  me  that  you  could  be  always  at 
that,  and  I  never  dreamt  that  you  had  become  a  regular 
detective.     I  am  very  glad  I  did  not  know  it.     In  the  first 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  277 

place,  I  should  have  been  horrified,  and  in  the  second 
place,  I  should  have  been  constantly  uneasy  about  you. 
However,  as  this  is  to  be  the  last  time,  I  will  let  you  go 
without  grumbling." 

"  By  the  way,  Millicent,  what  do  you  wish  me  to  say 
about  our  engagement?  I  don't  see  that  there  is  the 
slightest  occasion  for  us  to  keep  up  the  farce  of  your 
being  Miss  Conyers  any  longer.  You  cannot  be  married 
under  a  false  name,  you  know,  and  now  that  you  have 
escaped  what  your  father  was  so  afraid  of,  and  are  going 
to  be  married  for  love  and  not  for  money,  I  don't  see 
why  there  should  be  any  more  mystery  about  it" 

* '  But  how  would  you  account  for  my  having  been 
called  Conyers  all  this  time  ?" 

"  I  should  simply  tell  the  truth  :  that  your  father, 
having  a  great  fear  that  you  might  be  married  for 
money,  left  the  estate  to  my  father,  to  be  held  by  him 
until  you  came  of  age,  and  that  it  was  at  his  particular 
request  that  you  were  brought  up  simply  as  his  ward, 
and  dropped  the  family  name  and  passed  by  your  two 
Christian  names.  I  should  say  that  we  have  all  been 
aware  for  a  long  time  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  I 
should  also  say  that  your  father  had  left  a  very  large 
fortune  in  addition  to  the  estate  between  us,  and  had 
expressed  a  hope  that  we  should,  when  the  time  came, 
marry  each  other." 

"  Then  people  will  think  that  we  have  only  married  to 
keep  the  fortune  together,  Mark." 

"Well,  my  dear,  I  don't  suppose  there  are  a  great 
many  people  who  will  be  interested  in  the  matter,  and 
those  who  get  to  know  you  will  see  at  once  that,  as  far 


278  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

as  I  am  concerned,  there  was  no  great  difficulty  in  fall- 
ing in  with  your  father's  ideas,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  may  consider  that  you  made  a  noble  sacrifice  of 
yourself  in  agreeing  to  the  plan." 

"  Nonsense,  sir.  I  am  not  going  to  flatter  you,  as  no 
doubt  you  expect ;  but,  at  any  rate,  I  am  perfectly  con- 
tent with  my  share  of  the  bargain." 

"  Well,  there  is  one  thing,  Millicent :  all  that  knew 
us  down  at  Reigate  will  say  that  it  is  a  very  sensible 
arrangement,  and  will  be  glad  to  know  that  I  shall  re- 
tain the  estate  they  have  hitherto  considered  to  be 
mine.  Well,  then,  you  agree  to  my  mentioning  to  my 
intimate  friends  that  you  are  my  cousin  and  that  we  are 
engaged  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  it  is  the  best  thing,  Mark  ;  and,  as 
you  say,  I  must  marry  under  my  proper  name,  and  it 
is  just  as  well  to  get  the  talk  over  down  at  Reigate 
now  as  for  it  all  to  come  as  a  wonder  when  we  are 
married." 

"  When  is  that  going  to  be,  Millicent?" 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know  ;  of  course,  it  will  be  a  long  time 
before  we  even  think  of  that." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  am  thinking  of  it  now,  and  I 
can  see  no  reason  whatever  why  it  should  be  delayed. 
We  know  each  other  well  enough,  I  should  think,  and 
there  is  no  probability  of  our  changing  our  minds  on 
discovering  all  sorts  of  faults  that  we  never  dreamt  of 
each  other  having.  I  may  be  away  for  a  fortnight,  and 
I  would  suggest  that  you  had  better  make  your  prepa- 
rations at  once,  so  that  we  can  be  married  a  fortnight 
after  I  come  back." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  279 

"You  say  that  there  is  no  fear  of  our  discovering 
faults  in  each  other.  I  can  assure  you  that  I  have  just 
discovered  a  very  serious  fault,  namely,  that  you  are 
altogether  too  masterful,  too  bent  upon  having  your 
own  way.  I  know  you  always  were  when  you  were  a 
boy,  but  I  had  hoped  that  you  had  grown  out  of  it 
Now  I  see  that  I  was  altogether  mistaken.  Seriously, 
Mark,  your  proposal  is  absurd." 

"  Where  does  the  absurdity  come  in,  Millicent  ?" 

"Well,  everywhere,"  she  said,  gravely. 

"Which  in  the  present  case  means 'nowhere,"  he  said. 
"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me,  Millicent,  that  in  this  town 
there  are  not  a  hundred  dress-makers  each  of  whom 
could  turn  you  out  a  wedding-dress  and  as  many  other 
garments  as  you  can  possibly  require  in  the  course  of  a 
month  ;  or,  even  if  that  effort  were  too  stupendous,  that 
you  could  not  divide  the  work  among  a  dozen  of 
them  ?" 

"Well,  I  don't  say  that  that  could  not  be  done," 
Millicent  said,  reluctantly. 

"Well,  what  other  objection  is  there?" 

"  Well,  you  see  one  does  not  like  to  be  hurried  about 
such  a  matter  as  this,  Mark.  One  likes  to  think  it  all 
over  and  to  realise  it  to  oneself" 

"Well,  dear,  you  will  have  a  fortnight  while  I  am 
away  to  think  and  to  realise  as  much  as  you  like.  I 
can  see  no  advantage  myself  in  waiting  a  single  day 
longer  than  there  is  a  necessity  for ;  I  have  been  for  the 
last  year  coming  here  merely  as  a  visitor,  and  I  want  to 
take  possession  of  you  and  have  you  all  to  myself  I 
suppose  Mrs.  Cunningham  will  be  coming  in  presently, 


28o  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

and  I  will  put  the  matter  to  her.  If  she  says  you  can- 
not be  ready  in  a  month  I  must  give  you  another  week, 
but  I  don't  think  that  she  will  say  so.  By  the  way,  how 
about  her?" 

"  I  was  thinking  of  that  last  night,  Mark.  It  would 
be  very  lonely  for  her  to  live  by  herself  now,  and  you 
see  she  has  always  been  as  a  mother  to  me." 

"  Quite  so,  dear,  and  I  am  sure  that  I  should  have  no 
objection  to  her  coming  back  to  Crowswood,  and  living 
there  as  a  friend  and  helping  you  in  the  housekeeping." 

"Thank  you  very  much,  Mark.  I  should  like  that 
in  every  way.  You  see  I  know  nothing  whatever  about 
housekeeping,  and  besides,  when  you  are  out,  it  would 
be  a  great  thing  to  have  her  with  me,  for  it  would  be 
very  lonely  by  myself  in  that  big  house." 

"  Well,  we  will  have  her  there  by  all  means,  dear,  if 
she  likes  to  come.  You  had  better  talk  it  over  with 
her.  Ah  !  here  she  is.  We  were  just  talking  over  the 
time  it  will  take  Millicent  to  get  ready,"  he  said,  "  and 
I  shall  be  glad  of  your  opinion.  I  have  been  telling 
her  that  I  am  going  away  for  a  fortnight,  and  have  pro- 
posed that  the  marriage  should  come  off  a  fortnight 
later.  I  cannot  see  any  use  in  delay,  and  she  does  not 
either ;  at  least,  I  suppose  not,  for  the  only  objection 
she  has  advanced  is  that  there  will  be  but  a  short  time 
in  which  to  get  her  things  ready.  That  strikes  me  as 
all  nonsense.  I  could  get  things  ready  for  ten  weddings 
in  that  time.     What  do  you  think?" 

"  I  see  no  reason  for  delay,  certainly,"  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham said,  "and  assuredly  a  month  ought  to  be  sufficient 
to  get  everything  made." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  281 

"Thank  you,  Mrs.  Cunningham  ;  then  we  can  con- 
sider that  settled,  Millicent  !" 

"I  call  this  tyranny,  Mrs.  Cunningham,"  Millicent 
protested.  *'  He  says  he  proposes  that  we  shall  be  mar- 
ried in  a  month  ;  it  is  not  a  proposal  at  all,  it  is  an 
order.  If  he  wanted  me  in  such  a  hurry  he  might  have 
said  so  a  year  ago ;  and  now  that  he  has  made  up  his 
mind  at  last  he  wants  everything  done  in  a  hurry." 

"It  is  the  nature  of  men,  my  dear  ;  they  are  all  alike 
in  that  respect.  I  think  you  had  better  make  up  your 
mind  to  it,  especially  as  I  have  no  doubt  in  this  case  the 
order  is  not  a  very  unpleasant  one." 

"You  are  too  bad,  Mrs.  Cunningham,"  Millicent  said. 
"  I  made  sure  that  I  should  find  you  an  ally,  and  it 
seems  you  have  gone  over  altogether  to  the  enemy." 

"  Where  are  you  going  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Cunningham  of 
Mark. 

"  I  am  going  across  to  Amsterdam  to  sell  that  brace- 
let My  uncle  expressed  a  particular  wish  to  my  father 
that  he  should  do  so  immediately  they  came  into  his 
possession.  Dick  Chetwynd  is  going  over  with  me,  and 
if  the  weather  is  fair  it  will  be  a  pleasant  trip." 

"Where  are  you  thinking  of  going  after  the  mar- 
riage ?" 

"  We  have  not  talked  it  over  yet.  My  own  idea  is 
that  as  neither  of  us  has  been  abroad  we  might  as  well 
take  this  opportunity  for  seeing  something  of  the  conti- 
nent Of  course,  we  cannot  go  to  France,  things  are  in 
too  disturbed  a  state  there,  but  we  might  go  to  Brussels, 
and  then  into  Germany,  and  perhaps  as  far  as  Vienna, 
and  then  down  into  Italy ;  but,  of  course,  if  Millicent 


282  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

prefers  it,  we  will  simply  take  a  tour  through  England 
and  Scotland." 

"  Oh  !  I  am  glad  that  I  am  to  have  some  voice  in  the 
matter,"  Millicent  said;  "however,  I  should  like  the 
tour  you  propose  very  much,  Mark.  I  have  often 
thought  that  I  should  like  to  see  Italy  above  all  places." 

"  Well,  then,  we  will  consider  that  settled.  And  now, 
what  are  you  going  to  do  for  to-day?" 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 


THE  "  Essex"  was  to  sail  at  eleven  o'clock.  Half 
an  hour  before  that  time  Mark's  hackney  coach 
drew  up  for  a  moment  at  the  foot  of  Ludgate  Hill. 
Dick  Chetwynd  at  once  stepped  up  to  the  door,  spoke  a 
few  words  with  him,  and  quietly  passed  a  small  parcel 
into  his  hands ;  then  Mark  drove  on  to  the  wharf  Dick 
walked  back  up  Fleet  Street  as  far  as  Temple  Bar,  and 
there  hired  another  hackney  coach,  and  followed  him  to 
the  "  Essex."  He  found  Mark  waiting  for  him  at  the 
wharf,  and,  hailing  a  boat,  they  went  on  board  together. 
Both  had  sent  their  luggage  down  the  night  before.  On 
getting  on  board,  Mark  saw  the  two  prize-fighters  walk- 
ing up  and  down  the  deck  forward.  They  were  quietly 
dressed,  and  save  for  their  size  would  have  attracted  no 
attention,  and  would  been  taken  for  two  countrymen  on 
their  way  to  Holland  on  business. 

The  two  detectives  were  seated  for\vard,  their  appear- 
ance being  that  of  two  quiet  business  men,  commercial 
travellers  or  small  traders.     The  two  friends  first  went 

283 


284  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

below  and  saw  to  the  cabin  which  they  were  to  share. 
Then  they  went  on  deck.  Four  or  five  other  passengers 
were  standing  watching  the  last  bales  of  goods  coming 
on  board.  The  tide  was  just  on  the  turn,  and  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  later  the  warps  were  thrown  off  and  some 
of  the  sails  hoisted,  and  the  "  Essex"  began  to  move 
through  the  water. 

"Look  there,  Dick,"  Mark  exclaimed.  "Do  you  see 
that  boat  lying  on  its  oars  in  the  middle  of  the  stream  ? 
That  man  sitting  in  the  stern  is  a  foreigner,  either  from 
Southern  Europe  or  from  India." 

"  He  is  certainly  a  dark  man,  Mark.  Still,  that  may 
be  only  a  coincidence." 

"It  is  rather  a  curious  one,"  Mark  said.  "We  are 
too  far  off  to  see  his  features,  but  he  is  apparently  watch- 
ing us  off  There,  the  oars  are  dipping  into  the  water. 
He  sees  that  we  are  fairly  under  way." 

"  Well,  Mark,  I  shall  begin  to  think  that  you  are  right. 
I  am  bound  to  say  that  hitherto  I  thought  that  it  was 
ridiculous  to  suppose  that  you  could  have  been  watched 
as  you  thought;  that  you  had  got  these  diamonds  on 
your  brain  till  you  had  really  become  fanciful.  However, 
it  certainly  looks  as  if  you  were  right ;  but  even  if  you 
were,  how  on  earth  could  they  have  found  out  that  we 
were  going  by  this  ship  ?' ' 

"That  is  more  than  I  can  tell  ;  if  they  have  been 
watching  me  they  must  have  known  that  I  was  inti- 
mate with  you  ;  they  have  seen  me  come  out  of  Cotter's 
Bank,  and  afterwards  enter  your  lodgings  ;  they  would 
feel  sure  that  I  had  heard  that  there  would  be  danger 
connected  with  the  diamonds,  and  might  suppose  that  I 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  285 

should  get  some  friend  to  take  them  from  the  bank,  and 
may  have  followed  your  movements  as  well  as  mine. 
In  that  case  they  would  have  found  out  that  you  also 
went  to  Cotter's  Bank,  may  have  followed  you  to  Tower 
Street,  and  found  out  that  you  had  taken  a  passage  for 
two  to  Amsterdam.  They  may  again  have  seen  you  go 
to  the  bank  this  morning,  and  have  guessed  that  you  had 
the  diamonds  about  you,  and  then,  seeing  us  together  on 
the  wharf,  would  feel  pretty  certain  that  it  was  so.  One 
of  them  may  have  hired  that  boat  and  watched  the 
'  Essex'  to  see  that  neither  of  us  went  on  shore  again." 

"  Now  they  see  that  we  are  off  they  will  be  sure  that 
their  game  is  up,"  Chetwynd  said. 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,  Dick  ;  there  are  craft  going 
every  day  to  Antwerp  and  Flushing,  and,  for  anything 
we  know,  some  of  them  may  be  on  board  a  craft  already 
dropping  down  like  ourselves  by  this  tide.  But  even  if 
we  had  twelve  hours'  start,  by  landing,  say,  at  Flushing, 
they  would  have  time  to  cross  by  land  to  Amsterdam 
and  get  there  before  us." 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  they  would  ;  well,  it  is  pretty  certain 
that  we  shall  not  be  troubled  on  the  voyage." 

"  Yes ;  I  never  thought  that  there  was  much  danger  of 
that,  because  even  if  they  were  on  board  they  would  see 
that  you  and  I,  being  always  together,  could  not  be  got 
rid  of  without  an  alarm  being  given." 

Not  until  they  were  passing  Greenwich  did  either  of 
the  detectives  come  near  Mark  ;  then,  as  he  and  Dick 
were  standing  by  the  bulwarks,  looking  at  the  hospital, 
Chester  strolled  across  the  deck,  and,  pointing  to  the 
building  as  if  asking  him  some  question  about  it,  said, — 


286  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"There  is  a  coloured  man  forward,  dressed  as  a  sailor." 
"Is  that  so?"   Mark  said.      "I  see  no  one  aft  here 
who   looks  suspicious,  but  I  don't  think  that  they  will 
try  anything  until  we  get  to  Amsterdam.     There  was  a 
coloured  man  in  a  boat  watching  us  as  we  set  sail." 
"  I  saw  him,  sir ;  can  he  get  to  Amsterdam  before  us  ?" 
"  Yes,  I  have  no  doubt  he  can  ;  if  he  lands  at  Flush- 
ing or  Antwerp,  and  takes  a  post-chaise  or  a  diligence, 
I  should  say  he  could  get  there  twenty-four  hours  before 
us.     Certainly  he  could  do  so  if  he  landed  at  the  Hague, 
as  we  have  to  go  a  long  way  round   to  get  into  the 
Zuyder  Zee.     That  is  where  the  real  danger  will  be  ; 
still,  you  had  better  keep  a  sharp  lookout  on  the  man 
forward." 

No  more  was  said.  Mark  was  not  long  in  getting  into 
conversation  with  the  other  passengers  aft,  and  later  on 
strolled  forward  with  Dick,  asking  the  sailors  some  ques- 
tions as  to  what  sort  of  passage  they  were  likely  to  have 
and  how  the  wind  suited  ;  the  men  agreed  that  unless 
the  wind  shifted  they  would  not  be  likely  to  make  a 
quick  passage. 

"The  wind  is  northeasterly,"  one  of  them  said; 
"  we  can  only  just  lay  our  course  now,  and  it  will  be 
dead  against  us  in  some  of  the  reaches.  Well,  I  think 
we  shall  manage  to  make  down  to  sea  with  only  a  tack 
or  two,  but  when  we  are  once  fairly  out  of  the  river  it 
will  be  a  long  leg  and  a  short  one,  and  going  up  round 
the  Texel  it  will  be  dead  against  us,  except  that  it 
would  be  worse  if  we  had  more  east  in  it.  It  is  about 
as  foul  a  wind  as  we  could  have,  and  I  don't  see  any 
sign  of  a  change,  worse  luck." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  287 

Presently,  moving  about  among  them,  he  got  next  to 
Gibbons. 

"I  don't  think  we  shall  have  any  trouble  on  board," 
he  said  ;  "  if  there  is  any  it  will  be  after  we  have  landed. 
But  you  can  keep  an  eye  on  that  foreign  sailor  standing 
alone  there  up  in  the  bows." 

"  All  right,  sir ;  if  you  like  I  can  manage  to  get  into 
a  quarrel  with  him,  and  can  warrant  that  he  won't  get 
out  of  his  berth  before  it  is  time  to  go  ashore." 

"  No,  I  would  leave  him  alone.  Gibbons  ;  as  long  as 
he  is  forward  he  can  do  no  harm,  but  if  you  see  him 
working  his  way  aft  after  it  gets  dark,  it  will  do  him  no 
harm  if  you  manage  to  stumble  against  him  and  give 
him  a  clout  on  the  head." 

"  All  right,  sir ;  if  I  hit  him  onop  he  won't  want 
another.  The  fellow  seems  quiet  enough,  and  as  far 
as  strength  goes  he  don't  look  stronger  than  a  girl." 

After  chatting  for  some  time  longer,  Mark  and  Dick 
Chetwynd  went  aft  again.  The  "  Essex"  did  not  put 
into  any  intermediate  port,  and  it  was  only  on  the  sixth 
day  after  sailing  that  she  approached  Amsterdam.  The 
voyage  had  passed  off  without  any  incident  except  that 
at  nine  o'clock  one  evening  there  had  been  a  slight 
noise  on  deck  and  the  sound  of  a  fall.  The  friends  went 
up  at  once.  Several  of  the  sailors  had  run  aft,  and 
Gibbons  was  explaining  matters  to  them. 

"I  was  walking  up  and  down  the  deck,"  he  said, 
"when  I  saw  this  chap  staring  down  through  the  sky- 
light, and  I  said  to  him,  *  I  don't  call  it  good  manners 
to  be  prying  down  into  your  better's  cabin.'  He  did 
not  answer  or  move,  so  I  gave  him  a  push,  when  he 


288  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

turned  upon  me  like  a  wild-cat,  and  drew  his  knife 
from  his  girdle.  There  it  is,"  he  said,  glancing  to  the 
other  side  of  the  deck.  "As  I  did  not  want  daylight 
put  into  me,  I  just  knocked  him  down." 

"Served  him  right,"  one  of  the  sailors  said.  "He 
had  no  right  to  have  come  aft  at  all,  and  if  he  drew  his 
knife  on  you,  you  were  quite  right  in  laying  him  out 
But  you  must  have  hit  him  mighty  hard,  for  you  have 
knocked  the  life  pretty  near  out  of  him.  Well,  we  may 
as  well  carry  him  forward  and  throw  a  bucket  of  water 
over  him.  That  is  the  worst  of  these  foreign  chaps  : 
they  are  always  so  ready  with  their  knives.  However, 
I  don't  think  he  will  be  likely  to  try  his  hand  again 
with  an  Englishman." 

Mark  and  his  friend  went  below  again.  In  the  morn- 
ing Mark  asked  one  of  the  sailors  if  the  foreigner  was 
much  hurt. 

"Well,  he  is  a  good  bit  hurt,  sir.  That  big  chap 
looks  as  strong  as  a  bullock,  and  his  blow  has  flattened 
the  foreign  chap's  nose.  He  cannot  see  out  of  his  eyes 
this  morning,  and  is  keeping  his  bunk.  They  cannot 
stand  a  blow,  those  foreign  chaps  ;  but  I  don't  suppose 
that  any  of  us  would  have  stood  such  a  blow  as  that 
without  feeling  it  pretty  heavy.  The  man  who  hit  him 
is  quite  sorry  this  morning  that  he  hit  him  quite  so  hot, 
but,  as  he  says,  when  a  fellow  draws  a  knife  on  you,  you 
have  not  got  much  time  for  thinking  it  over,  and  you 
have  got  to  hit  quick  and  hard.  I  told  him  he  needn't 
be  sorry  about  it.  I  consider,  when  a  fellow  draws  a 
knife,  that  hanging  ain't  too  bad  for  him,  whether  he 
gets  it  into  a  man  or  not." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  289 

There  was  a  growl  of  assent  from  two  or  three  sailors 
standing  round,  for  in  those  days  the  use  of  the  knife 
was  almost  unknown  in  England,  and  was  abhorrent  to 
Englishmen,  both  as  being  cowardly  and  unfair,  and  as 
being  a  purely  foreign  crime. 

"  It  will  be  dark  before  we  get  alongside,"  Mark  said 
to  the  two  detectives.  "  Do  you  two  walk  first ;  we 
will  keep  close  behind  you,  and  the  others  shall  follow 
up  as  close  as  they  can  keep  to  us.  If  anyone  is  look- 
ing out  for  us,  they  will  see  that  we  are  a  strong  party 
and  that  it  would  be  no  good  to  attack  us,  for  even 
if  they  were  to  stab  me  it  would  not  be  possible  to 
search  me  for  the  diamonds  when  I  am  with  a  party  like 
this." 

It  was,  indeed,  quite  dark  when  the  brig  brought  up 
outside  a  tier  of  vessels  lying  by  the  wharf  A  few  oil- 
lamps  burning  by  the  quay  showed  that  there  were  a 
good  many  people  still  sauntering  about.  The  part>'- 
waited  until  the  rest  of  the  passengers  had  landed. 
They  learned  from  one  of  those  who  knew  the  place 
that  the  hotel  to  which  they  were  going  was  but  three 
or  four  hundred  yards  away,  and  obtained  directions 
how  to  find  it. 

"  Now  we  will  go,"  Mark  said.  "  Gibbons,  you  had 
better  keep  a  sharp  lookout  on  your  own  account 
That  fellow  you  knocked  down  may  try  to  put  a  knife 
into  you." 

"  I  will  keep  a  sharp  lookout,  sir,  never  you  fear." 

"  I  think,  Tring,  you  had  better  watch  ;  he  is  more  in 
danger  than  I  am.  Have  you  seen  the  man  go  on 
shore?" 

»9 


290  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"Yes,  he  was  the  very  first  to  cross  on  to  the  next 
vessel,"  Tring  said. 

The  loungers  on  the  quay  had  gathered  together  to 
watch  the  passengers  as  they  left  the  ship,  and  by  the 
dim  light  from  one  of  the  oil-lamps  it  could  be  seen  that 
the  majority  of  them  were  of  the  roughest  class.  As 
they  were  passing  through  them,  a  man  with  a  cry  of 
rage  sprang  at  Gibbons  with  an  uplifted  knife.  Tring's 
fist  struck  him  under  the  ear  as  he  was  in  the  act  of 
striking,  and  he  fell  like  a  log.  There  was  a  cry  of 
"  Down  with  them  !"  and  a  rush  of  a  score  of  men,  most 
of  whom  were  armed  with  heavy  bludgeons. 

The  party  was  at  once  broken  up,  heavy  blows  were 
exchanged,  the  two  pugilists  rolling  their  assailants  over 
like  ninepins,  but  receiving  several  heavy  blows  from 
their  assailants'  clubs.  A  rush  of  five  or  six  men  sepa- 
rated Mark  from  the  others.  Those  in  front  of  him  he 
struck  down,  but  a  moment  later  received  a  tremendous 
blow  on  the  back  of  the  head  which  struck  him  to  the 
ground  unconscious.  His  companions  were  all  too  busy 
defending  themselves  against  their  assailants  to  notice 
what  had  been  done,  and,  as  the  attack  had  taken  place 
in  the  centre  of  the  roadway,  behind  the  quay,  there 
was  no  lamp,  and  the  fight  was  taking  place  in  almost 
total  darkness. 

By  this  time  many  people  had  run  up  at  the  sound 
of  the  fray.  A  minute  later  there  was  a  cry  that  the 
watch  were  coming,  and  four  or  five  men  with  lanterns 
emerged  from  one  of  the  streets  leading  down  to  the 
quays  and  hurried  towards  the  spot.  The  fight  at  once 
ceased,  the  men  who  had  attacked  mingled  with  the 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  291 

crowd,  and  when  the  watch  came  up  they  found  the  five 
Englishmen  clustered  together  and  ten  or  twelve  men 
lying  on  the  ground. 

The  instant  that  the  fight  had  ceased  Dick  Chet- 
wynde  asked,  "Where  is  Mr.  Thorndyke  ?" 

No  answer  was  given.  The  other  four  men  simul- 
taneously uttered  exclamations  of  alarm.  The  crowd 
was  thinning  fast  as  the  watch  came  up. 

"What  is  all  this  about?"  one  of  them  said,  in 
Dutch. 

"Do  any  of  you  speak  English?"  Dick  asked. 

"I  do,"  one  of  them  said. 

"We  landed  five  minutes  ago  from  that  craft,"  con- 
tinued Dick,  "  and  as  we  came  across  we  were  attacked 
by  a  band  of  ruffians.  An  Englishman,  one  of  our 
party,  is  missing." 

"Whose  bodies  are  these?"  the  watchman  asked, 
raising  his  lantern  and  pointing  to  them. 

"Perhaps  Mr.  Thorndyke  is  among  them,"  Dick 
Chetwynd  said. 

The  fallen  figures  were  examined  by  the  light  of  the 
lanterns.  Mark  was  not  among  them.  The  watchmen 
uttered  an  exclamation  of  astonishment  as  they  looked 
at  the  men's  faces. 

"What  did  you  strike  them  with?"  the  one  who 
spoke  first  asked. 

"Struck  them  with  our  fists,  of  course,"  Gibbons 
replied.  "  They  will  do  well  enough  ;  you  need  not 
bother  about  them,  they  will  come  round  again  presently. 
The  question  is,  Where  is  Mr.  Thorndyke  ?' ' 

The  whole  of  the  lookers-on  had  dispersed,  each  fear- 


292  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

ing  that  he  might  be  charged  with  taking  part  in  the 
outrage. 

"This  is  a  very  serious  matter,"  Chetwynd  said. 
"We  have  every  reason  to  beheve  that  the  attack  was 
premeditated,  for  the  gentleman  who  is  missing  was 
known  to  have  some  valuables  on  him  ;  all  these  fel- 
lows ought  to  be  taken  and  locked  up  and  made  to  give 
an  account  of  themselves.  We  are  going  to  the  Hotel 
d'  Hollande,  where  you  can  find  us  at  any  time.  I 
daresay  some  of  these  scoundrels  are  known  to  you, 
and  that  may  give  you  a  clue  as  to  where  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke  is. 

"  I  have  but  little  hope  that  he  will  be  found  alive  ; 
no  doubt  he  has  been  stabbed  and  his  body  carried  off, 
so  that  they  can  search  his  clothes  at  their  leisure.  We 
came  in  a  strong  party  to  prevent  the  risk  of  an  attack 
upon  Mr.  Thorndyke.  Here  is  my  card.  It  is  of  no 
use  our  attempting  to  search  by  ourselves,  but  if  you 
will  get  these  fellows  taken  to  the  watch-house,  and 
will  call  at  the  hotel,  we  will  join  any  party,  and  search 
where  you  think  he  has  most  likely  been  taken." 

"  I  think,  sir,  you  had  better  come  with  me  to  the 
watch-house,  and  see  the  lieutenant,  and  tell  him  what 
has  happened." 

"  I  will  just  take  my  friends  to  the  hotel,  and  shall  be 
back  from  there  before  you  have  got  men  to  take  these 
fellows  away.  If  you  will  go  to  one  of  those  ships  and 
borrow  a  bucket,  fill  it  with  water,  and  empty  it  over 
each  of  them,  you  will  find  that  will  bring  them  to." 

As  soon  as  they  arrived  at  the  hotel  Dick  ordered  a 
private  room  and  five  bedrooms. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  293 

"We  have  made  a  terrible  mess  of  this,  lads,"  he 
said,  gloomily.  "  I  don't  say  that  it  is  the  fault  of  either 
of  us,  but  it  is  a  horrible  affair.  I  have  not  the  least 
doubt  that  Mr.  Thorndyke  has  been  killed,  and  it  is  no 
satisfaction  to  us  that  we  have  pretty  nearly  done  for  a 
dozen  of  those  scoundrels." 

"  I  would  not  have  had  it  happen  for  a  ;£^ic)0,  nor  a 
^1000  ;  if  there  had  been  daylight  we  could  have  licked 
a  score  of  them  in  spite  of  their  bludgeons,  but  they 
came  with  such  a  rush  at  us  that  we  got  separated  before 
we  were  aware  of  it,  I  don't  think  that  it  was  our  fault. 
I  feel  as  much  ashamed  as  if  I  had  thrown  up  the  sponge 
in  the  ring  at  the  end  of  the  first  round.  To  think  that 
we  came  over  here,  four  of  us,  and  yourself,  sir,  on  pur- 
pose to  take  care  of  Mr.  Thorndyke,  and  are  all  well, 
save  a  few  knocks  with  those  sticks,  and  that  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke was  killed  and  carried  off  before  we  had  been  on 
shore  five  minutes.  A  better  young  fellow  I  never  put 
on  the  gloves  with."  And  Gibbons  passed  the  back  of 
his  hand  across  his  eyes. 

"Well,  I  must  be  off)  now,"  Chetwynd  said.  "  I  feel 
heartbroken  over  it ;  I  have  known  him  since  we  were 
boys  together ;  but  what  makes  it  worse  is  that  only 
three  days  ago  he  became  engaged  to  be  married.  How 
we  are  going  to  take  the  news  back  God  only  knows." 

As  he  hurried  down  the  street  towards  the  wharf, 
he  saw  a  number  of  lanterns  coming  towards  him,  and 
ten  or  twelve  watchmen  came  along  escorting  the  pris- 
oners, many  of  whose  faces  were  covered  with  blood  ; 
then  came  four  other  watchmen  carrying  a  body  on  a 
stretcher. 


294  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"One  of  them  is  dead,"  the  watchman  who  had  be- 
fore spoken  said  to  Dick,  "A  foreign  seaman,  a  Lascar, 
I  should  say,  from  his  colour ;  we  found  an  open  knife 
by  his  side." 

"That  is  the  man  who  began  the  fray,"  Chetwynd 
said.  "  He  was  on  the  point  of  stabbing  one  of  my 
companions  when  another  hit  him  under  the  ear." 

"What  !"  the  watchman  said.  "  He  must  have  been 
hit  like  the  kick  of  a  horse.  All  these  prisoners  seem 
to  have  been  struck  but  once ;  two  of  them  cannot 
speak.  I  think  their  jaws  are  broken  ;  four  of  them 
have  broken  noses,  and  another  has  all  his  front  teeth 
knocked  out,  while  others  are  nearly  as  bad." 

"  I  see  you  have  brought  with  you  some  of  their  blud- 
geons," Dick  said,  pointing  to  one  of  the  watchmen, 
who  carried  a  great  bundle  of  sticks  over  his  shoulder. 

"  Yes,  sir,  twenty-three  of  them  ;  it  certainly  seems  to 
show  that  it  was  a  planned  thing.  Most  of  these  fel- 
lows' faces  are  so  bruised  that  I  cannot  say  who  they 
are  at  present,  but  two  or  three  are  known  as  the  worst 
ruffians  in  the  city,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  we  shall 
find  that  they  all  belong  to  the  same  gang." 

By  this  time  they  had  arrived  at  the  watch-house,  a 
building  of  considerable  size  ;  the  prisoners  were  first 
lodged  in  a  strong  room  with  barred  windows  and  very 
heavy  doors,  and  then  the  watchman  went  with  Chet- 
wynd to  the  lieutenant's  room.  The  officer  had  just 
returned,  having  hurried  down  with  a  reinforcement  to 
the  wharf  as  soon  as  he  had  heard  of  the  fray,  and  tried 
to  gather  some  information  from  the  people  who  had 
gathered  round,  attracted  by  the  lanterns  of  the  watch. 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  295 

He  had  already  learned  from  the  watchmen  all  they 
knew  about  the  affair.  As  he  spoke  English  well,  he  at 
once  addressed  Dick  : 

"This  is  a  serious  affair,  sir." 

"  A  very  serious  affair,  as,  indeed,  I  am  afraid  that 
my  dearest  friend  has  been  murdered." 

"Will  you  kindly  give  me  the  particulars?"  the 
officer  said,  sitting  down  to  the  table  with  a  pen  in 
his  hand. 

Dick  Chetwynd  told  him  the  story  of  how  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke,  having  some  very  valuable  jewels  that  he  wished 
to  dispose  of,  and  believing  that  he  would  be  attacked 
by  a  band  of  robbers,  had  asked  him  to  accompany 
him,  and  had  brought  four  detective  officers  and  pugil- 
ists to  protect  him  against  any  sudden  attack. 

"Ah,  that  accounts  for  the  terrible  blows  that  these 
fellows  received,"  the  officer  said.  "And  your  friend, 
was  he  a  strong  man?" 

"  He  was  a  man  exceptionally  strong,  and  a  match 
for  either  of  the  pugilists  that  he  brought  over.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  he  was  stabbed,  though  of  course  he 
might  have  been  brought  down  by  a  blow  from  one 
of  the  bludgeons.  He  must  have  been  completely  in- 
sensible when  carried  off. 

"  The  watchmen  here  tells  me  that  three  or  four  of 
these  ruffians  are  known,  and  perhaps,  if  you  will  give 
orders  for  the  blood  to  be  washed  off  the  others*  faces, 
some  more  may  be  recognised  and  prove  an  aid  in 
enabling  you  to  form  an  idea  where  Mr.  Thorndyke 
has  been  carried.  I  trust  that  you  will  send  out  a  party 
to  search  for  him.     I  and  the  four  men  with  me  will 


296  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

gladly  join  them,  and  may  be  of  use  if  any  resistance 
is  offered." 

The  lieutenant  at  once  gave  orders  to  the  watchman 
to  go  down  and  see  that  the  prisoners  all  washed  their 
faces.  As  soon  as  he  returned  with  the  report  that  this 
was  done  the  officer  went  down  with  Dick  Chetwynd 
to  examine  them.  Three  or  four  of  the  men  with 
lanterns  also  went  in.  Eight  out  of  eleven  men  were 
recognised ;  the  other  three,  whose  features  were  so 
swollen  that  they  could  not  see  out  of  their  eyes,  could 
not  be  made  out,  but  their  companions,  on  being  ques- 
tioned, gave  their  names. 

"They  all  belong  to  a  gang  of  wharf  thieves  and 
plunderers.  They  live  in  a  slum  near  the  water.  I 
will  have  men  posted  in  the  lanes  leading  to  it,  and  will 
myself  go  with  you  to  see  that  a  search  is  made  of  every 
house  ;  but  first  I  will  try  to  find  out  from  these  fellows 
where  he  was  to  be  taken.  Now,  my  men,"  he  said, 
"  any  one  of  you  who  will  tell  me  where  one  of  the 
party  you  attacked  was  to  be  taken  will  find  things 
made  easy  for  him  at  his  trial." 

None  of  the  men  spoke  for  a  minute,  and  then  one 
said, — 

"We  know  nothing  about  it;  how  should  we,  when 
we  were  all  knocked  about  ?" 

"  No ;  but  you  might  know  where  he  was  to  be 
taken." 

"  I  know  nothing  about  that.  We  all  got  word  to 
mind  we  were  on  the  wharf  when  a  brig,  that  was  seen 
coming  up,  came  alongside,  and  that  we  were  to  have 
a  hundred  francs  each  for  attacking  some  of  the  pas- 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  297 

sengers  as  they  landed.  Six  of  them  came  along  to- 
gether, and  one  said,  'These  are  the  men.'  A  black 
sailor  came  up  first  and  spoke  to  two  or  three  men  in 
some  foreign  language.  I  don't  know  who  the  men 
were,  it  was  too  dark  to  see  their  faces.  It  was  one  of 
them  who  gave  the  order.  It  seemed  an  easy  job 
enough  when  there  were  twenty-five  of  us  with  heavy 
sticks,  but  it  didn't  turn  out  so.  I  only  know  that  I  hit 
one  big  fellow  a  blow  that  ought  to  have  knocked  him 
down,  and  the  next  moment  there  was  a  crash,  and  I 
didn't  know  anything  more  about  it  until  a  lot  of  water 
was  thrown  over  me,  and  one  of  the  watch  helped  me 
to  my  feet.  I  don't  know  whether  the  others  know 
more  than  I  do,  but  I  don't  think  they  do." 

All  the  others  protested  at  once  that  they  were  equally 
ignorant  They  had  gone  to  earn  a  hundred  francs. 
They  had  been  told  that  the  money  was  all  right,  but 
who  found  it  or  who  were  the  men  to  be  attacked  they 
had  not  the  least  idea. 

"  How  was  it  that  you  all  had  these  bludgeons? — 
there  were  no  knives  found  on  any  of  you." 

The  man  who  spoke  before  said, — 

"The  order  was,  'No  knives,'  and  before  we  went 
down  to  the  wharf  each  of  us  was  searched  and  sticks 
given  to  us.  I  suppose  from  that,  that  whoever  paid 
for  the  job  didn't  want  blood  to  be  shed  ;  it  suited  us 
well  enough,  for  it  was  a  job  there  was  sure  to  be  a  row 
over,  and  I  don't  suppose  any  of  us  wanted  to  put  his 
head  in  a  noose.  I  know  that  we  all  said  to  one  another 
as  we  went  out  that  it  did  not  want  such  sticks  as  we 
had  to  give  a  man  a  thrashing,  but  the  man  who  hired 


298  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

us,  whoever  he  was,  knew  his  customers  better  than  we 
did." 

The  officer  translated  the  man's  words  as  they  were 
spoken  to  Dick,  and  on  hearing  the  last  speech,  the  lat- 
ter said, — 

"  Then  there  is  still  hope  that  Thorndyke  may  only 
have  been  stunned  ;  that  is  a  greater  reason  for  our 
losing  no  time  in  looking  for  him,  for  I  am  afraid  that 
they  won't  hesitate  to  kill  him  when  they  have  got  him 
hidden  away." 

"  I  expect,"  the  lieutenant  said,  "  they  thought  that  if 
any  of  the  watch  came  upon  them  as  they  were  carrying 
him  off,  they  might  be  at  once  arrested  if  it  was  found 
that  they  were  carrying  a  dead  man,  whilst  if  he  were 
only  stunned  they  would  say  that  it  was  a  drunken  com- 
rade who  had  fallen  and  knocked  his  head  against  some- 
thing. I  agree  with  you,  sir  ;  we  had  better  start  on  our 
search  at  once." 

"  Will  you  pass  the  Hotel  d'  Hollande  ?  If  not,  I  will 
run  and  bring  my  men." 

"  Yes,  I  will  go  that  way ;  it  will  be  no  farther." 

Dick  walked  on  fast. 

"We  have  no  news  of  him,"  he  said,  as  he  entered 
the  room  where  the  four  men  were  anxiously  awaiting 
him,  "but  we  and  the  watch  are  now  going  to  search 
the  slums  where  the  men  who  were  taken  prisoners  all 
live  ;  come  down  now,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  I  have 
learned  before  the  others  come  up.  There  is  reason  for 
believing  that  he  was  not  stabbed,"  he  went  on,  as  they 
reached  the  street,  "  for  the  men  all  say  that  they  were 
armed  only  with  clubs,  and  that  the  strictest  orders  were 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  299 

given  that  none  were  to  carry  knives,  therefore  they  have 
Httle  doubt  that  he  was  at  the  time  only  stunned.  I  am 
bound  to  say  that  this  gives  me  very  small  ground  for 
hoping  that  we  may  find  him  alive.  I  fear  they  only 
stunned  him  so  they  might  carry  him  to  their  haunts,  for 
if  stopped,  they  could  say  it  was  a  drunken  comrade 
who  had  fallen  and  hurt  himself  I  fear  that  when  they 
once  get  him  into  one  of  their  dens  they  will  make  short 
work  of  him  ;  therefore  it  is  clear  that  there  is  not  a 
moment  to  be  lost.     Ah,  here  comes  the  watch." 

There  were  eight  men  with  the  lieutenant. 

"  I  have  already  sent  off  ten  others,"  he  said,  as  he 
joined  Chetwynd,  "  to  watch  the  lanes  and  let  no  one 
go  in  or  out.  I  thought  it  best  not  to  lose  a  moment 
about  that,  for  when  the  men  see  that  we  have  learnt 
from  the  others  where  the  gang  came  from,  and  have 
closed  the  avenues  of  escape,  they  will  hesitate  about 
murdering  their  prisoner  if  he  is  still  alive  when  my  men 
get  there." 

In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  they  arrived  at  the  end  of  a 
narrow  lane  where  two  watchmen  were  standing  with 
lanterns. 

"You  have  seen  or  heard  nothing?"  the  lieutenant 
asked  him. 

"No,  sir ;  we  have  not  seen  a  man  moving  in  the  lane." 

"There  is  just  one  hope  that  we  might  be  in  time," 
the  lieutenant  said,  as  he  went  on  down  the  lane,  "  and 
that  is,  that  the  fellows,  when  they  gather,  will  be  so  dis- 
mayed at  finding  that  nearly  half  their  number  are  miss- 
ing, and  know  that  some  of  them  are  pretty  sure  to  make 
a  clean  breast  of  it,  that  they  will  hesitate  to  complete 


300  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

their  crime.  It  is  one  thing  to  rob  a  man  in  the  streets  ; 
quite  another  to  murder  him  in  cold  blood.  There  is 
likely  to  be  a  good  deal  of  difference  of  opinion  among 
them,  some  of  the  more  desperate  being  in  favour  of 
carrying  the  thing  through,  but  others  are  sure  to  be 
against  it,  and  nothing  may  have  been  done.  You  may 
be  sure  that  the  sight  of  my  men  at  the  end  of  the  lanes 
will  still  further  alarm  them.  I  have  no  doubt  the  news 
that  we  have  surrounded  the  district  has  already  been 
circulated,  and  that  if  alive  now  he  is  safe,  for  they  will 
think  it  better  to  suffer  a  year  or  two's  imprisonment 
than  to  be  tried  for  murder.  We  are  sure  to  make  some 
captures,  for  it  is  probable  that  several  of  the  others 
will  bear  marks  of  the  fight.  Each  man  we  take  we 
will  question  separately ;  one  or  other  of  them  is  pretty 
safe  to  be  ready  to  say  where  your  friend  was  taken,  if 
I  promise  him  that  he  shan't  be  prosecuted." 

Every  house  in  the  district  was  searched  from  top  to 
bottom.  Six  men,  with  cut  and  bruised  faces,  were 
found  shamming  sleep,  and  were  separately  questioned 
closely.  All  declared  that  they  knew  nothing  whatever 
of  anyone  being  carried  there. 

"  It  is  of  no  use  your  denying  your  share  in  the  affair," 
the  lieutenant  said.  "Your  comrades  have  confessed 
that  there  were  twenty-five  of  you  hired  to  commit  this 
outrage,  and  that  you  received  a  hundred  francs  each. 
Now,  if  this  gentleman  is  not  found  it  will  be  a  hanging 
matter  for  some  of  you,  and  you  had  better  tell  all  you 
know.  If  you  will  tell  us  where  he  is,  I  will  promise 
that  you  shan't  be  included  in  the  list  of  those  who  will 
be  prosecuted." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  301 

The  reply,  though  put  in  different  words,  was  identical 
with  that  of  the  prisoners. 

"We  had  nothing  to  do  with  carrying  him  off  We 
were  hired  only  to  knock  the  men  down  who  were 
pointed  out  to  us.  Not  a  word  was  said  about  carrying 
them  off  He  may  have  been  carried  off;  that  we  can- 
not say  ;  but  he  has  certainly  not  been  brought  here, 
and  none  of  us  had  anything  to  do  with  it." 

Morning  was  breaking  before  the  search  was  con- 
cluded. The  detectives,  accustomed  as  they  were  to 
visit  the  worst  slums  of  London,  were  horrified  at  the 
crowding,  the  squalor,  and  the  misery  of  the  places  they 
entered. 

"  My  opinion,  Mr.  Chetwynd,"  Gibbons  growled,  "  is 
that  the  best  thing  to  do  would  be  to  put  a  score  of 
soldiers  at  the  end  of  all  these  lanes,  and  then  to  burn 
the  whole  place  down  and  make  a  clean  sweep  of  it.  I 
never  saw  such  a  villainous-looking  crew  in  all  my  life. 
I  have  been  in  hopes  all  along  that  some  of  them  would 
resist.  It  would  have  been  a  real  pleasure  to  have  let 
fly  at  them." 

"They  are  a  villainous  set  of  wretches,  Gibbons,  but 
they  may  not  be  all  criminals." 

"Well,  I  don't  know,  sir;  but  I  know  that  if  I  were 
on  a  jury,  and  any  of  the  lot  were  in  the  dock,  I  should 
not  want  to  hear  any  evidence  against  them  ;  their  faces 
are  enough  to  hang  them." 

At  last  the  search  was  over,  and  they  were  glad,  in- 
deed, when  they  emerged  from  the  lanes  and  breathed 
the  pure  air  outside,  for  all  the  Englishmen  felt  sick  from 
the  poisonous  air  of  the  dens  that  they  had  entered. 


302  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

The  prisoners  as  they  were  taken  had  been  sent  off  to 
the  watch-house. 

"  I  begin  to  think  that  the  story  these  fellows  tell  is  a 
true  one,  Mr.  Chetwynd,"  the  lieutenant  said,  "and 
that  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  carrying  your  friend 
off.  In  the  first  place,  they  all  tell  the  same  story ;  that 
in  itself  would  not  be  much,  as  it  might  have  been 
settled  beforehand  ;  but  it  is  hardly  likely  that  one  of 
the  lot  would  not  have  been  ready  to  purchase  his  life 
by  turning  on  the  others.  There  is  very  little  honour 
among  thieves  ;  and  as  they  know  that  we  have  taken 
their  mates, — for  no  doubt  we  were  watched  as  we 
marched  them  up  the  town, — they  would  make  sure 
that  someone  would  turn  traitor,  and  would  think  they 
might  as  well  be  beforehand.  I  fancy  that  the  men — 
whoever  they  are — who  hired  this  gang  to  attack  you, 
carried  out  that  part  of  the  business  themselves." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  is  so,"  Dick  agreed  ;  "  and  I  fear  in 
that  case  that  he  is  in  even  worse  hands  than  if  these 
ruffians  here  had  taken  him." 

"  Well,  sir,  can  you  furnish  us  with  any  clue  ?" 

"  The  only  clue  is  that  they  were  most  probably  dark 
men.  That  man  who  was  killed  was  undoubtedly  one 
of  them.  I  should  say  that  they  would  probably  be  got 
up  as  foreign  sailors." 

"  Well,  that  is  something  to  go  upon,  at  any  rate.  I 
will  send  round  men  at  once  to  all  the  places  by  the 
quays  where  sailors  board,  and  if  three  or  four  of  them 
have  been  together  at  any  place  we  are  sure  to  hear  of 
it,  and  the  moment  I  have  news  I  will  send  to  your 
hotel" 


'  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  303 

"Thank  you  ;  I  don't  see  that  we  can  be  of  any  use 
at  present,  but  you  will  find  us  ready  to  turn  out  again 
the  moment  we  hear  that  you  have  news." 

When  the  party  returned  to  the  hotel  they  sat  talk- 
ing the  matter  over  for  upwards  of  an  hour.  All  were 
greatly  discouraged,  for  they  had  little  hope,  indeed,  of 
ever  learning  what  had  become  of  Mark.  As  they  had 
started  out,  Dick  had  told  the  night  porter  that  he  could 
not  say  what  time  they  might  return,  but  that  before  the 
house  closed  he  must  have  a  couple  of  bottles  of  spirits, 
'and  some  tumblers  sent  up  to  their  sitting-room,  to- 
gether with  some  bread  and  cold  meat,  for  that  they 
might  not  return  until  morning,  and  would  need  some- 
thing before  they  went  to  bed,  as  they  had  had  nothing 
since  their  dinner,  at  one  o'clock. 

"  It  wants  something  to  take  the  taste  of  that  place 
out  of  one's  mouth,"  Tring  said  to  Dick,  as,  directly 
they  entered,  he  poured  some  spirits  into  the  glasses. 
"  I  feel  as  queer  as  if  I  had  been  hocussed." 

All,  indeed,  were  feeling  the  same,  and  it  was  not  until 
they  had  eaten  their  supper  and  considerably  lowered 
the  spirits  in  the  two  bottles  that  they  began  to  talk. 
The  two  detectives  were  the  principal  speakers,  and  both 
of  these  were  of  opinion  that  the  only  shadow  of  hope 
remaining  rested  upon  Mark  himself 

"  Unless  they  finished  him  before  he  came  round," 
Malcolm  said,  "they  would  find  him  an  awkward  custo- 
mer to  deal  with.  Mr.  Thorndyke  has  got  his  head 
screwed  on  right,  and  if,  as  you  say,  they  are  Indians, 
Mr.  Chetwynd,  I  should  think  that  if  he  once  comes 
fairly  round,  unless  he  is  tied  up,  he  will  be  a  match  for 


304  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

them,  even  with  their  knives ;  that  is  the  only  chance  I 
see.  Even  if  the  watch  do  find  out  that  three  or  four 
foreign  sailors  have  been  at  one  of  the  boarding-houses 
and  did  not  turn  up  last  night,  I  don't  think  that  we 
shall  be  much  nearer.  They  will  probably  only  have 
carried  him  some  distance  along  the  wharf,  got  to  some 
quiet  place  where  there  is  a  big  pile  of  wood  or  some- 
thing of  that  sort,  then  put  a  knife  into  him,  searched 
for  the  diamonds,  which  you  may  be  sure  they  would 
find  easily  enough  wherever  he  had  hidden  them,  and 
then  made  off,  most  likely  for  Rotterdam  or  the  Hague  ; 
they  could  be  at  either  of  these  places  by  this  time,  and 
will  most  likely  divide  the  diamonds  and  get  on  board 
different  craft,  bound  for  London  or  Hull,  or,  indeed,  any 
other  port,  and  then  ship  for  India.  From  what  Mr. 
Thorndyke  said,  they  did  not  want  the  diamonds  to  sell, 
but  only  to  carry  back  to  some  temple  from  which  they 
were  stolen  twenty  years  ago." 

Chester  was  of  precisely  the  same  opinion. 

"  I  am  afraid,  Mr.  Chetwynd,"  he  added,  as  they  rose 
to  go  to  their  rooms  for  two  or  three  hours'  sleep,  "  the 
only  news  that  we  shall  get  in  the  morning  is  that  Mr, 
Thorndyke' s  body  has  been  found." 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

AT    ten  o'clock  a  constable  came  with  a  message 
from  the  lieutenant    to  Mr.   Chetwynd  that  he 
would  be  glad  if  he  would  come  down  to  the 
watch-house.     Dick  did  not  wake  the  others,  but  fresh- 
ening himself  up  by  pouring  a  jug  of  water  over  his 
head,  went  at  once  with  the  constable. 

"  Have  you  news?"  he  asked,  eagerly,  as  he  entered. 
"Yes,  the  men  returned  an  hour  ago.  At  each  of 
four  houses  they  went  to  a  foreign  sailor  had  been 
lodging  for  the  last  day  or  so,  but  yesterday  afternoon 
all  had  paid  their  reckonings  and  left.  Then  the  idea 
struck  me  that  it  would  be  cis  well  to  ask  if  they  had 
been  seen  on  the  quays,  and  I  sent  off  a  fresh  batch 
of  men  to  make  enquiries.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  ago 
one  of  them  came  back  with  the  news  that  he  had 
learned  from  a  sailor  that  he  had  noticed  a  dark-col- 
oured foreigner,  whom  he  took  to  be  a  Lascar  sailor, 
talking  to   a  boatman,   and   that  they  had   rowed   off 

20  305 


3o6  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

together  to  a  barge  anchored  a  short  way  out ;  he  did 
not  notice  anything  more  about  him. 

"  Now,  I  should  not  be  at  all  surprised  if  the  fellow 
went  off  to  arrange  with  the  bargeman  for  a  passage 
for  himself  and  four  or  five  comrades  to  some  port  or 
other ;  it  might  be  anywhere.  It  would  make  no  dif- 
ference to  them  where  the  barge  was  bound  for.  No 
doubt  he  saw  the  man  again  after  the  brig  was  sighted, 
and  told  him  that  they  should  come  on  board  soon  after 
it  got  dark,  and  told  him  to  have  the  boat  at  the  stairs. 
You  see  in  that  case  they  might  not  have  carried  Mr. 
Thorndyke  above  fifty  or  a  hundred  yards.  They 
would  probably  get  him  on  board  as  one  of  their  party 
who  had  been  drunk.  The  barge  no  doubt  got  under 
weigh  about  nine  o'clock,  which  is  the  hour  when  tide 
was  high  last  night,  and  during  the  night  the  Indians 
could  easily  drop  your  friend  overboard — and  may  even 
have  done  so  before  they  got  under  weigh,  which  would 
have  been  the  easiest  thing  to  do.  There  would  have 
been  no  one  at  the  helm,  and  they  could  have  chosen 
a  moment  when  the  crew,  probably  only  three,  were 
below.  I  am  afraid  that  this  is  not  a  cheering  lookout, 
but  I  have  little  doubt  that  it  is  the  correct  one. 
.  "  I  have  told  my  men  to  find  out  what  barge  was 
lying  at  the  spot  the  sailor  pointed  out,  and  if  we  dis- 
cover her  name,  which  we  are  likely  to  be  able  to  do, 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  finding  out  to  whom  she 
belongs,  and  where  she  was  bound  for.  Then  we  can 
follow  it  up  ;  though  there  is  little  likelihood  of  our 
finding  the  murderers  still  on  board." 

"Thank  you  very  much  for  the  pains  that  you  are 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  307 

taking,  sir,"  Dick  said.  "I  am  afraid  that  there  is  no 
shadow  of  hope  of  finding  my  poor  friend  alive.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  the  thing  has  happened  exactly  as 
you  suggest ;  the  whole  course  of  the  affair  shows  how 
carefully  it  was  planned,  and  I  have  no  hope  that  any 
scruple  about  taking  life  would  be  felt  by  them  for  a 
moment.  I  will  go  back  to  the  hotel,  and  I  shall  be 
obliged  if  you  will  let  me  know  as  soon  as  you  obtain 
any  clue  as  to  the  barge." 

An  hour  and  a  half  later  the  officer  himself  came 
round  to  the  room  where  Dick  Chetwynd  and  the  two 
pugilists  were  sitting.  The  detectives  had  started  out 
to  make  enquiries  on  their  own  account,  taking  with 
them  a  hanger-on  at  the  hotel,  who  spoke  English. 

"The  barge's  name  was  the  'Julie,'  "  he  said  ;  "she 
has  a  cargo  on  board  for  Rotterdam." 

"  I  think  the  best  thing  would  be  to  take  a  carriage 
and  drive  there  at  once,"  Dick  said. 

"You  can  do  that,  sir,  but  I  don't  think  you  will 
be  there  before  the  barge  ;  they  have  something  like 
eighteen  hours'  start  of  you,  and  the  wind  has  been  all 
the  time  in  the  east  I  should  say  that  they  would  be 
there  by  eight  o'clock  this  morning." 

"  No,  I  don't  know  that  it  would  be  of  any  use,  but 
at  least  it  would  be  doing  something.  I  suppose  we 
could  be  there  in  four  hours?" 

"  From  that  to  five  ;  but  even  if  the  barge  were  de- 
layed and  you  got  there  first,  which  is  very  unlikely,  I 
do  not  think  that  there  would  be  the  remotest  chance 
of  finding  those  villains  on  board.  I  reckon  they 
would,  as  we  agreed,  launch  the  body  overboard  even 


3o8  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

before  they  got  under  weigh  here,  and  they  may  cither 
have  landed  again  before  the  craft  got  under  weigh,  pre- 
tending that  they  had  changed  their  minds,  and  then 
walked  across  to  the  Hague  or  to  Haarlem,  or  have 
gone  on  with  the  barge  for  two  hours,  or  even  until  day- 
break. If  by  that  time  they  were  near  Rotterdam, 
they  may  have  stayed  on  board  till  they  got  there  ;  if 
not,  they  may  have  landed  and  finished  the  journey  on 
foot ;  but  they  would  certainly  not  have  stopped  on 
board  after  six  or  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning.  They 
would  calculate  that  possibly  we  might  get  on  their 
track  at  an  early  hour  this  morning  and  set  out  in  pur- 
suit at  once. 

"  However,  it  will  doubtless  be  a  satisfaction  to  you 
to  be  moving ;  and  at  least  you  will  be  able  to  over- 
haul the  barge  when  you  get  to  Rotterdam,  and  to  hear 
what  the  boatmen  say.  The  chances  are  they  will  not 
even  have  noticed  that  one  of  the  men  who  came  on 
board  was  missing.  The  men  may  very  well  have  made 
up  a  long  bundle,  carried  it  on  shore  with  them,  or  three 
of  them  may  have  carried  a  fourth  ashore  ;  and  in  the 
dark  the  bargemen  were  unlikely  to  have  noticed  that 
the  number  was  less  than  when  they  came  on  board. 
However,  it  will  be  something  for  you  to  find  out  when 
and  where  the  fellows  landed." 

"  Yes  ;  I  should  certainly  like  to  lay  hands  on  them, 
though  I  am  afraid  we  should  find  it  very  hard  to  prove 
that  they  had  anything  to  do  with  this  affair." 

"  I  think  that  also,  Mr.  Chetwynd.  Morally,  we  may 
feel  absolutely  certain  ;  but,  unless  the  boatmen  noticed 
that  one  of  their  number  was  missing  when  they  landed, 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  309 

we  have  at  present  no  evidence  to  connect  them  with 
it" 

"  We  will  set  out  as  soon  as  my  other  two  men  re- 
turn. I  told  them  to  be  back  soon  after  twelve.  I  will 
write  to  you  this  evening  from  Rotterdam.  Ah  !  here 
are  the  men." 

The  door  opened,  and,  to  the  stupefaction  of  the  party, 
Mark  Thorndyke  entered  the  room. 

"  Good  heavens,  Mark !"  Dick  exclaimed,  springing 
forward  and  seizing  his  hand.  "  Is  it  really  you  alive  in 
the  flesh  ?  We  had  given  you  up  for  dead.  We  have 
been  searching  the  town  for  you  all  night,  and  were  just 
going  to  set  out  for  Rotterdam  in  search  of  a  barge  on 
which  we  believed  you  were  carried.  Why,  it  seems 
almost  a  miracle." 

The  two  prize-fighters  also  came  forward  and  shook 
hands  with  a  pressure  that  would  have  made  most  men 
shrink. 

"I  am  as  glad,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  Gibbons  said,  "as  if 
anyone  had  given  me  ;^iooo.  I  have  never  quite  given 
up  hope,  for,  as  I  said  to  Mr.  Chetwynd,  if  you  got  but 
a  shadow  of  a  chance  you  would  polish  off  those  nigger 
fellows  in  no  time  ;  but  I  was  afraid  that  they  never 
would  give  you  a  chance.     Well,  I  am  glad,  sir." 

"  Mark,  this  is  the  lieutenant  of  the  watch  here," 
Dick  said  ;  "  he  has  been  most  kind,'  and  has  himself 
headed  the  search  that  has  been  made  for  you  all  night 
Now  tell  us  all  about  it" 

"  First  of  all,  give  me  something  to  drink,  for,  except 
some  water,  I  have  had  nothing  since  dinner  yesterday. 
You  are  right,  Dick  ;  it  is  almost  a  miracle,  even  to  me, 


3IO  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

that  I  am  here.  I  would  not  have  given  a  penny  for  my 
chance  of  Hfe,  and  I  can  no  more  account  for  the  fact 
that  I  am  here  than  you  can." 

Mark  drank  off  a  tumbler  of  weak  spirits  and  water 
that  Gibbons  poured  out  for  him.  Chetwynd  rang  the 
bell  and  ordered  lunch  to  be  brought  up  at  once.  Just 
at  this  moment  the  two  detectives  came  in  and  were 
astonished  and  delighted  at  finding  Mark  there. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  I  will  tell  you  as  much  as  I  know, 
which  is  little  enough.  When  I  came  to  my  senses  I 
found  myself  lying  on  the  deck  of  a  craft  of  some  sort ; 
it  was  a  long  time  before  I  could  at  all  understand  how 
I  got  there.  I  think  it  was  the  pain  from  the  back  of 
my  head  that  brought  it  to  my  mind  that  I  must  have 
been  knocked  down  and  stunned  in  that  fight ;  for  some 
time  I  was  very  vague  in  my  brain  as  to  that,  but  it  all 
came  back  suddenly,  and  I  recalled  that  we  had  all  got 
separated.  I  was  hitting  out,  and  then  there  was  a  crash. 
Yes,  I  must  have  been  knocked  down  and  stunned,  and 
I  could  only  suppose  that  in  the  darkness  and  confusion 
I  had  been  carried  off  and  taken  on  board  without  any 
of  you  missing  me  ;  my  hands  and  feet  were  tied,  and 
there  was  something  shoved  into  my  mouth  that  pre- 
vented me  from  speaking. 

"  I  should  think  that  it  must  have  been  an  hour  before 
I  quite  recovered  my  senses,  and  got  the  thing  fairly 
into  my  mind.  Then  a  man  with  a  knife  leant  over  me, 
and  made  signs  that  if  I  spoke  he  would  stab  me,  and 
another  took  the  gag  out  of  my  mouth  and  poured 
some  water  down  my  throat,  and  then  put  it  in  again. 
I  saw  that  he  was  a  dark-coloured  man,  and   I  then 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  311 

understood  it  all ;  it  was  those  Hindoos  who  had  got  up 
the  attack  upon  us,  and  had  carried  me  off.  I  had  no 
doubt  they  had  got  the  diamonds  I  had  sewn  up  in  the 
waistband  of  my  trousers.  I  wondered  why  they  were 
keeping  me,  but  was  sure  they  would  stab  me  presently 
and  throw  me  overboard.  I  knew  that  they  had  killed 
two  soldiers  for  the  sake  of  the  diamonds,  and  if  it 
hadn't  been  that  they  had  given  me  the  water,  I  should 
not  have  had  a  shadow  of  doubt  about  my  fate. 

"  I  puzzled  over  why  they  should  have  done  so,  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  dared  not  do  it  on 
board,  because  of  the  crew,  and  that  they  intended  to 
take  me  on  shore  somewhere,  and  there  dispose  of  me.  I 
made  many  attempts  to  loosen  my  ropes,  but  they  would 
not  give  the  slightest.  At  last  I  think  I  dozed  off  for  a 
time.  After  I  had  had  the  water  they  drew  a  blanket  or 
something  of  that  sort  over  me.  It  had  been  there  before, 
but  it  had  only  been  pulled  up  as  high  as  my  nose,  and  I 
felt  sure  that  it  was  only  done  to  prevent  the  Dutchmen 
on  the  boat  seeing  that  I  was  bound  and  gagged  ;  this 
time  they  pulled  it  right  over  my  face.  When  they  took 
it  off  again  I  could  see  it  was  nearly  morning,  for  there 
was  a  faint  light  in  the  sky.  They  were  moving  about 
on  the  deck,  and  presently  I  saw  one  of  the  sailors  get  into 
the  boat  and  pull  it  along,  hand  over  hand,  by  the  rail 
until  he  was  close  to  me.  Then  four  Lascar  sort  of 
chaps — I  could  scarcely  make  out  their  features — lifted 
me  and  lowered  me  into  the  boat  and  got  in  themselves. 

"  I  did  not  attempt  to  struggle.  No  doubt  they  had 
made  up  some  tale  that  I  was  mad  or  something  of 
that  sort,  and  I  thought  that  I  had  best  pretend  to  be 


312  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

quiet  and  peaceable  till  I  could  see  some  sort  of  chance 
of  making  a  fight  for  it.  It  was  but  a  few  yards  from 
the  shore.  The  men  lifted  me  out  on  to  the  bank,  and 
the  sailor  then  started  to  row  back  to  the  barge  ;  they 
carried  me  a  few  yards  away,  and  then  laid  me  face 
downwards  on  some  grass.  Now,  I  thought  to  myself, 
it  is  all  over  ;  they  are  going  to  stab  me  and  make  off. 
To  my  surprise  I  felt  that  they  were  doing  something — 
I  could  not  make  out  what — to  tfie  ropes  ;  then  there 
was  quiet.  I  lay  there  I  should  think  for  half  an  hour, 
wondering  why  on  earth  they  did  not  finish  me.  At  last 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  move,  and  turned  over  on  to  my 
back.  As  I  lay  there  I  could  see  no  one,  and,  raising  my 
head,  looked  around.  To  my  amazement  I  found  that  I 
was  alone.  It  was  now  almost  light,  and  as  I  craned  my 
head  in  all  directions  I  assured  myself  that  they  had 
gone ;  then  I  began  to  try  again  at  the  ropes. 

"  To  my  surprise  I  found  that  they  were  much  looser 
than  they  were  before,  although  still  tight  enough  to 
give  me  nearly  an  hour's  work  before  I  got  my  hands 
free.  Then  it  took  me  almost  as  long  to  get  the  ropes 
off  my  legs,  for  they  had  knotted  them  in  such  a  fearful 
and  intricate  way  that  it  was  a  long  time  before  I  could 
even  discover  where  the  ends  were.  At  last  I  finished 
the  job,  stood  up,  and  looked  round.  A  quarter  of  a 
mile  off  there  was  a  good-sized  town,  but  not  a  soul 
could  I  see.  Till  now  I  had  hardly  thought  of  the 
diamonds.  I  put  my  hands  to  my  waistband  and  found, 
as  I  expected,  that  they  were  gone.  I  think  I  felt 
nothing  but  pleasure  :  the  confounded  things  had  given 
trouble  enough,  and  I  was  well  rid  of  them.     Why  they 


-ifflfiiir^'^^iimiiiii^^ 

'  It  took  me  almost  as  long  to  get  the  ropes  off  my  legs." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  313 

should  have  spared  my  life  I  could  not  imagine.  If 
they  had  finished  me,  which  they  could  have  done  with- 
out any  risk  to  themselves  when  they  got  me  ashore, 
they  could  have  gone  off  with  the  diamonds  without  the 
slightest  fear  of  pursuit,  while  now  there  was,  of  course, 
a  chance  that  I  might  follow  and  recognise  them." 

"  Would  you  know  them  again  ?"  the  lieutenant  inter- 
rupted. 

"  Not  in  the  slightest ;  it  was  light  enough  to  see  that 
they  were  dark,  but  from  the  time  the  boat  came  along 
the  blanket  was  over  my  head,  and  except  when  they 
gave  me  the  water  I  had  no  chance  of  seeing  any  of 
their  features.  Still,  if  I  had  gone  straight  to  the  town 
I  saw  and  reported  the  matter  to  the  authorities,  and 
sent  mounted  men  to  all  the  ports  to  warn  them  not  to 
let  any  coloured  men  embark,  I  might  have  given  them 
a  lot  of  trouble,  but  I  don't  suppose  any  of  them  would 
ever  have  been  caught.  After  the  craft  they  had  shown 
in  the  whole  matter,  it  is  certain  that  they  would  have 
laid  their  plans  for  escape  so  well  that  the  law  would 
never  have  laid  hands  upon  them.  I  put  my  hand 
mechanically  to  my  watch  to  see  the  time,  and  to  my 
astonishment  discovered  that  I  still  had  it  in  my  pocket, 
and  was  equally  surprised  to  find  that  the  money  in  my 
trousers'  pockets  was  also  untouched.  The  watch  had, 
of  course,  stopped.  I  first  of  all  went  down  to  the 
water  and  had  a  good  wash  ;  then  I  proceeded  to  the 
town,  and,  going  to  a  hotel,  ordered  breakfast." 

"  Why,  I  thought  you  said  that  you  had  had  nothing 
to  eat,  Mark." 

"Yes?     Well,  I  had  forgotten  all  about  that  break- 


314  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

fast.  The  people  looked  a  good  deal  surprised  at  an 
Englishman  walking  in  in  that  way.  While  I  was  eat- 
ing my  breakfast,  two  men — who  were,  I  suppose, 
authorities  of  some  kind — who  spoke  English  came 
and  questioned  me.  As  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to 
say  nothing  more  about  the  affair,  I  merely  told  them 
that  I  had  come  for  a  sail  from  Amsterdam,  and  that  I 
wanted  a  carriage  to  take  me  back.  They  were  evi- 
dently astonished  at  my  choosing  a  dark  night  for  such 
a  trip,  but  I  said  that  I  had  the  curiosity  to  see  how 
the  boatmen  navigated  their  vessel  when  there  were  no 
light-houses  or  anything  to  steer  by.  They  asked  a  few 
more  questions,  and  then  went  away,  evidently  thinking 
that  I  was  a  little  mad.  However,  they  must  have 
spoken  to  the  landlord,  who  in  a  short  time  made  signs 
that  the  carriage  was  at  the  door. 

"  I  had  avoided  asking  the  men  either  the  name  of 
the  place  or  how  far  it  was  from  any  big  town,  because 
that  would  have  made  the  whole  affair  more  singular. 
It  was  quarter-past  eight  when  I  started,  and  beyond 
the  fact  that  from  the  sun  I  know  we  came  pretty  nearly 
due  east,  I  have  not  the  slightest  idea  of  the  road. 
The  coachman  could  not  speak  a  word  of  English.  I 
should  say  we  came  about  seven  miles  an  hour,  and 
stopped  once  to  bait  the  horses,  so  I  suppose  that  I 
must  have  been  between  four  and  five  miles  from  Rot- 
terdam when  I  landed." 

Lunch  had  by  this  time  been  laid  on  the  table,  and  at 
Dick's  invitation  the  lieutenant  joined  them. 

"  It  is  an  extraordinary  story  !"  he  said.  "That  your 
life  should  have  been  spared  is  altogether  beyond  my 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  315 

comprehension  ;  still  more  so  why  they  should  have  left 
you  your  money  and  watch." 

"The  whole  story  is  extraordinary,"  Dick  Chetwynd 
said  ;  "  for  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  those 
fellows,  or  at  least  one  or  two  of  them,  have  been  pa- 
tiently watching  for  a  chance  of  carrying  off  those  dia- 
monds for  twenty  years.  When  my  friend  told  me  of 
it  ten  days  ago  I  did  not  believe  that  it  could  be  possi- 
ble ;  but  he  has  certainly  shown  that  he  was  correct  in 
his  opinion." 

Mark  then  related  the  history  of  the  jewels,  surprising 
the  pugilists  and  detectives  as  much  as  the  lieutenant. 

"It  is  extraordinary,  indeed,"  the  latter  said.  "I 
should  not  have  believed  it  possible  that  men  could 
have  devoted  so  many  years  to  such  a  purpose,  nor  that 
they  could  have  succeeded  in  tracing  the  diamonds  in 
spite  of  the  precaution  taken  by  your  uncle,  and  after- 
wards by  yourself  It  would  seem  that  from  the  time 
he  landed  in  England  he,  and  after  him  your  father  and 
yourself,  must  have  been  watched  almost  night  and  day. 
I  can  understand  now  why  they  did  not  take  your  watch 
and  money.  They  evidently  acted  from  a  sort  of  re- 
ligious enthusiasm,  and  were  no  ordinary  thieves,  but,  as 
evidently  they  did  not  hesitate  to  kill,  I  cannot  under- 
stand why  they  should  have  added  to  their  risks  by 
sparing  you." 

"  No  ;  that  is  what  puzzles  me,"  Mark  agreed.  "  I 
was  thinking  it  over  while  we  were  driving  here.  Now 
let  me  hear  about  the  fight,  Dick.  How  did  you  all 
come  out  of  it?" 

"  As  well  as  could  be  expected.     Gibbons  and  Tring 


3i6  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

both  got  some  heavy  blows  with  the  cudgels,  as,  indeed, 
we  all  did  more  or  less,  but  they  did  great  execution. 
Eleven  fellows  were  left  senseless  on  the  ground,  and 
one  of  them,  that  black  fellow  who  came  over  with  us, 
was  killed.  The  other  ten  are  all  in  prison.  All  of  us 
did  our  best,  and  managed  to  leave  our  mark  on  eight 
others,  who  were  in  consequence  picked  out,  and  are 
also  in  gaol."  Dick  went  on  to  relate  the  particulars  of 
the  search. 

"  You  see  our  friend  here  had  traced  you  to  the  barge 
and  found  out  her  destination,  and  if  you  had  come  ten 
minutes  later  you  would  have  found  that  we  had  all  just 
started  for  Rotterdam.  I  was  only  waiting  for  Chester 
and  Malcolm  to  return  to  set  out.  I  am  sorry,  Mark, 
that  you  have  lost  your  diamonds  ;  not  so  much  because 
they  are  gone,  for  I  can  well  understand  you  to  be  thor- 
oughly glad  to  be  rid  of  such  dangerous  articles,  but 
because  they  should  have  carried  them  off  in  our  teeth, 
after  we  had  been  specially  retained  to  protect  you.  I 
certainly  thought  that  with  such  a  body-guard  you  were 
absolutely  safe  from  any  number  of  Hindoos." 

"  Yes,  we  made  a  regular  mess  of  it,  Mr.  Thorndyke," 
Gibbons  said.  "  I  never  felt  so  certain  of  winning  a 
battle  as  I  did  that  you  would  not  be  touched  as  long  as 
we  were  looking  after  you.  Tring  and  I,  if  we  had  been 
asked,  would  have  said  that  we  could  each  have  taken 
on  a  dozen  foreigners  easily.  Mr.  Chetwynd  is  handy 
with  his  fists,  too,  though  he  hasn't  your  weight  and 
reach,  and  your  two  other  friends  are  both  pretty  well 
accustomed  to  deal  with  rough  customers.  As  for  Tring 
and  me,  it  makes  one  feel  small  to  know  that  we  have 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  317 

been  bested  by  a  handful  of  niggers,  or  Hindoos  or 
whatever  the  chaps  are,  whom  a  good-sized  boy  of 
twelve  ought  to  be  able  to  polish  off." 

"Now,  Mark,  what  is  to  be  done  next?"  Dick  Chet- 
wynd  asked. 

"  The  next  thing  will  be  to  get  back  as  soon  as  we 
can,  Dick.  I,  for  one,  have  had  enough  of  Holland  to 
last  me  for  a  lifetime." 

"I  am  afraid,  gentleman,"  the  lieutenant  said,  "you 
will  have  to  wait  a  day  or  two  before  you  can  leave.  I 
have  eighteen  men  in  prison,  and  will  get  a  meeting  of 
magistrates  this  afternoon.  Now  you  have  come  back, 
Mr.  Thorndyke,  the  charge  against  them  won't  be  as 
serious  as  it  would  have  been  before,  but  they  are  guilty 
of  a  desperate  and  premeditated  assault  upon  six  pas- 
sengers on  their  arrival  here  ;  they  have  already  admit- 
ted that  they  were  paid  for  their  work,  and  as  among 
them  are  some  of  the  worst  characters  in  the  city,  you 
may  be  sure  that  now  we  have  got  them  fairly  in  our 
hands  we  shall  not  let  them  go.  It  is  so  simple  an  affair 
that  the  investigation  ought  not  to  take  long,  but  we 
shall  want  to  find  out,  if  we  can,  who  acted  as  the  inter- 
mediary between  the  Hindoos  and  the  prisoners.  I 
should  think  that  two  meetings  ought  to  be  sufficient 
for  the  present,  but  I  am  afraid  that  there  may  then  be 
a  long  remand,  and  that  you  will  either  have  to  remain 
here  or  to  come  over  again." 

"  It  would  be  a  horrible  nuisance,"  Dick  said  ;  "  still 
it  would  be  better  to  come  back  again  than  to  wait  here 
indefinitely,  and  anyhow  I  don't  suppose  it  would  be 
necessary  for  all  of  us  to  come  back  again." 


3i8  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  I  should  not  mind  if  it  could  be  arranged  for  me  to 
be  here  again  in  a  month's  time,"  Mark  agreed,  "  for,  to 
tell  you  the  truth,  I  am  going  to  be  married  in  less  than 
three  weeks,  and  as  I  had  intended  to  come  to  Brussels 
and  afterwards  to  travel  for  a  while,  I  could  make  a  visit 
here  without  greatly  putting  myself  out." 

"I  will  try  and  arrange  that,  Mr,  Thorndyke." 

"I  shall  be  glad,"  Mark  said,  "if  you  can  manage  to 
get  the  men  sentenced  without  going  into  the  question 
of  the  diamonds  at  all,  and  treat  the  matter  as  a  mere 
attempt  at  robbery.  It  surely  would  not  be  necessary 
to  bring  the  question  of  my  being  carried  away  into  the 
matter  at  all ;  I  can  give  evidence  that  I  was  knocked 
down  and  stunned,  and  that  I  was  robbed  of  some  jewels 
that  I  had  about  me,  which  were  the  object  of  the  at- 
tack." 

"  I  think  we  should  have  to  admit  that,"  the  lieuten- 
ant said;  "it  must  come  out  that  the  attack  was  an 
organised  one," 

"Well,  if  it  must,  it  must,"  Mark  said,  reluctantly; 
"  but  then,  you  see,  no  end  of  questions  would  be  asked, 
and  the  thing  might  be  delayed  while  a  search  is  being 
made  for  the  men  who  stole  the  bracelet." 

"  Well,  we  will  keep  it  out  of  the  question  if  we  can," 
the  lieutenant  said ;  "  the  meeting  will  be  at  three 
o'clock  ;  I  will  send  a  man  to  take  you  to  the  town 
hall." 

At  the  appointed  hour  the  party  proceeded  to  the 
court,  and  the  eighteen  prisoners,  under  a  strong  guard, 
having  been  brought  in,  six  magistrates  took  their  places 
on  the  bench  ;  the  rest  of  the  court  was  crowded,  the 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  319 

fray  on  the  wharf  and  the  number  of  captures  having 
created  quite  a  stir  in  the  city.  They  had  arranged  that 
Tring  should  first  give  his  evidence,  which  he  did,  the 
heutenant  of  the  watch  acting  as  interpreter,  though 
most  of  the  magistrates  understood  EngHsh.  The  ap- 
pearance of  the  prisoners  created  quite  a  sensation  in 
the  court,  for  the  injuries  that  they  had  received  were 
now  even  more  conspicuous  than  they  had  been  when 
they  were  first  captured  ;  some  of  them  had  to  be  led 
into  court,  their  eyes  being  completely  closed ;  others  had 
their  heads  bandaged,  and  all  showed  signs  of  tremen- 
dous punishment.  Tring  related  that  he,  with  five  others, 
had  come  ashore  together ;  one  of  his  companions  had  a 
row  on  board  a  ship  they  had  crossed  in  with  a  Lascar 
sailor,  who  was  a  passenger,  and  they  kept  together  as 
they  were  crossing  the  wharf,  thinking  that  possibly  the 
man  might  attempt  to  stab  his  companion. 

"I  was  walking  behind  him,"  Tring  went  on,  "when 
the  Lascar  jumped  suddenly  out  from  among  the  men 
standing  about,  and  was  about  to  stab  my  companion, 
when  I  hit  him  just  in  time,  and  he  went  down  ;  then 
there  was  a  rush,  and  we  all  got  separated,  and  did  as 
well  as  we  could  until  the  watch  came  up.  That  is  all 
that  I  know  about  it" 

"Is  the  Lascar  among  the  prisoners?"  one  of  the 
magistrates  asked  the  lieutenant  of  the  watch. 

"  No,  sir.  When  picked  up  by  one  of  my  men  he 
was  found  to  be  dead.  The  blow  had  apparently  killed 
him  instantly." 

The  other  five  then  gave  their  evidence.  It  was 
similar  to  that  of  Tring,  save  that,  being  in  front  of 


320  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

him,  they  knew  nothing  of  the  attack  by  the  Lascar. 
All  they  knew  about  it  was  that  there  was  a  sudden  rush 
upon  them  by  a  number  of  men  armed  with  bludgeons, 
that  they  were  separated,  and  that  each  defended  him- 
self until  the  guard  came  up. 

Some  of  the  watch  then  gave  evidence,  and  told  how, 
on  arriving  at  the  spot,  eleven  of  the  prisoners  were 
found  lying  senseless  ;  how,  on  recovering,  they  were  all 
taken  to  the  watch-house,  where  several  of  them  were 
recognised  as  notorious,  bad  characters.  They  had 
admitted  that  they  were  paid  to  make  the  attack,  which 
was  apparently  the  result  of  the  private  enmity  of  some 
person  or  persons  unknown  to  one  or  more  of  those 
attacked. 

The  lieutenant  then  related  the  steps  that  he  had 
taken  to  capture  others  connected  with  the  attack,  and 
that  he  found  eight  men  bearing  marks  of  the  fray,  and 
that  all  these  were  also  notorious  characters,  and  associ- 
ates of  the  prisoners  first  taken.  The  first  witnesses 
were  again  questioned.  Five  of  them  said  that,  so  far 
as  they  knew,  they  had  no  personal  enemies.  Mark, 
who  was  the  last  to  get  into  the  witness-box,  said  that 
he  himself  had  no  enemies,  but  that  an  uncle  of  his, 
who  was  in  the  British  Indian  service,  had  a  sort  of  feud 
with  some  members  of  a  sect  there  on  account  of  some 
jewels  that  he  had  purchased,  and  which  had,  they 
declared,  been  stolen  from  a  temple.  Two  soldiers, 
through  whose  hands  these  things  had  passed,  had  been 
successively  killed  by  them,  and  his  uncle  had  to  the  day 
of  his  death  believed  that  their  vengeance  would  one  day 
fall  upon  him. 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  321 

"I  can  only  suppose,"  continued  Mark,  "that  I  have 
inherited  the  enmity  that  they  bore  him  as  I  inherited 
the  jewels,  and  that  the  attack  was  really  designed  solely 
against  me,  and  the  consequences  might  have  been  fatal 
to  me  had  it  not  been  for  the  strength  and  courage  of  my 
fellow-passengers. ' ' 

'•  Did  they  come  with  you  for  your  protection,  Mr. 
Thorn  dyke  ?" 

"To  some  extent,  yes.  The  fact  is,  that  I  have  for 
some  time  been  convinced  that  I  was  followed  about  by 
natives  of  India,  and,  remembering  what  my  uncle  had 
said  on  the  subject,  I  became  to  some  degree  apprehen- 
sive, and  thought  it  as  well  to  leave  London  for  a  short 
time.  That  this  attack  was  really  instigated  by  the  men 
I  have  no  doubt  whatever,  since,  as  you  have  heard,  it 
was  begun  by  a  Lascar,  who  tried  to  stab  one  of  my 
companions,  and  who  received  a  knock-down  blow  that 
caused  his  death  from  one  of  the  others.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  these  people  will  cherish  for  many  years 
a  determination  to  avenge  an  injury.  However,  I  hope 
that  after  the  failure  of  this  attempt  upon  my  life  I  shall 
hear  no  more  of  them." 

"Were  any  knives  found  on  the  prisoners?"  the 
magistrates  asked  the  lieutenant  of  the  watch. 

"No,  sir;  all  carried  clubs.  And  they  told  me 
that  they  had  been  specially  ordered  not  to  take 
knives,  and  had,  indeed,  been  searched  before  they 
came  out." 

"What  impression  do  you  gather  from  that,  Mr. 
Thorndyke?" 

"  My  impression  is,  sir,  that  they  desired  to  over- 

21 


322  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

power  those  with  me  and  to  beat  them  down,  in  order 
to  carry  out  their  revenge  upon  me." 

After  some  consultation  the  magistrate  who  had  be- 
fore spoken  said, — 

"The  prisoners  will  be  remanded.  It  is  necessary 
that  we  should  find  out  who  was  the  chief  culprit  who 
bribed  this  gang." 

As  soon  as  the  prisoners  were  taken  out  of  court 
Mark  slipped  across  to  the  magistrates,  accompanied 
by  the  lieutenant  as  interpreter. 

"  I  hope,  gentlemen,  that  our  presence  here  will  not 
be  necessary,  for  it  would  be  a  matter  of  extreme  in- 
convenience. I  may  say  that  my  marriage  is  fixed  for 
to-day  three  weeks,  hence  you  can  well  imagine  that  I 
want  to  return  as  soon  as  possible.  Two  of  the  men 
are,  as  you  have  heard.  Bow  Street  officers,  whose 
presence  could  not  well  be  spared." 

The  magistrates  again  consulted  together. 

"Your  evidence  has  all  been  taken  down  by  the 
clerk  of  the  court.  Certainly  we  should  not  require 
your  presence  at  the  remand ;  but  that,  of  course, 
would  depend  upon  whether  these  men  all  own  their 
guilt,  which,  having  been  taken,  as  they  may  say,  red- 
handed,  it  is  likely  enough  they  will  do.  We  will  con- 
sent, therefore,  to  your  leaving,  if  you  will  give  us  an 
undertaking  to  return  for  the  trial  if  your  presence  is 
at  all  necessary,  and  that  you  will  bring  with  you  the 
man  who  struck  down  the  Lascar  who  commenced  the 
fray,  and  one  of  the  others." 

"That  I  will  do  wiUingly,"  Mark  replied.  "We  are- 
much  obliged  to  you  for  your  consideration.     I  shall  be 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  323 

travelling  for  a  time  after  my  marriage ;  but  should  I 
hear  from  you  that  our  presence  is  required,  I  will  give 
you  the  route  I  intend  to  take  and  the  address  at  which 
letters  will  find  me,  and  if  you  send  me  a  sufficiently 
long  notice  I  will  at  once  return  for  the  trial." 


CHAPTER   XX. 


"  \  70U  managed  that  very  well,  Mark,"  Dick  said. 

J  "  You  kept  well  within  the  limits  of  truth  with- 
out bring  the  real  facts  of  the  attack  upon  us 
into  the  case." 

"  Well,  you  see,  Dick,  after  working  as  I  told  you  as 
a  detective,  one  gets  into  the  way  of  telling  stories  with 
the  smallest  amount  of  deviation  possible.  What  will 
these  fellows  get  done  to  them  ?" 

"  I  should  say  that  they  will  get  two  or  three  years' 
imprisonment ;  the  only  charge  now  is  rioting  and  as- 
sault. It  is  lucky  for  them  that  they  had  clubs  instead 
of  knives.  It  would  have  brought  the  matted  under 
the  head  of  attempted  murder ;  the  matter  of  the  gems 
was  not  important  in  the  case,  but  there  is  sure  to  be  a 
great  fuss  and  search  for  the  missing  Indians.  I  suppose 
you  will  soon  be  off  home  now?" 

"Yes  ;  I  shall  find  out  to-night  what  vessel  leaves  for 
England  to-morrow,  and  take  a  berth  in  the  first  that 
sails  for  London.  It  is  too  late  to  think  of  starting  this 
324 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  325 

evening,  and,  indeed,  I  feel  that  I  want  a  long  night's 
rest,  for  I  did  not  sleep  much  last  night,  and  have  not 
quite  recovered  from  that  crack  on  my  head." 

On  his  return  to  the  hotel  Mark  sent  out  a  man  to 
enquire  at  the  shipping  offices,  and  finding  that  a  barque 
would  sail  at  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning,  they  went 
down  and  took  berths,  and  sailed  in  her  next  day.  The 
voyage  home  was  a  rapid  one,  for  the  wind  blew  steadily 
from  the  east,  and  the  vessel  made  the  passage  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river  in  two  days,  and  the  next  took  them 
up  to  London. 

"  I  will  call  round  to-morrow  or  next  day.  Gibbons, 
with  the  cheques  for  you  both,"  Mark  said,  as  he  pre- 
pared to  go  ashore. 

"No,  sir.  We  are  both  of  one  mind  that  we. could 
not  take  them.  We  went  over  to  prevent  you  being 
robbed  of  those  sparklers,  and  to  see  that  you  came  to 
no  harm.  Well,  the  things  are  lost,  and  you  have  got 
knocked  down  and  carried  away.  It  is  no  thanks  to  us 
that  you  are  alive  now.  It  is  a  mortifying  job  that,  with 
two  detectives  to  watch  over  things  and  with  us  to  fight, 
we  should  have  been  fairly  beaten  by  a  few  black  nig- 
gers." 

"  If  there  had  been  any  bungling  on  your  part.  Gib- 
bons, there  might  be  something  in  what  you  say,  but  no 
one  could  have  foreseen  that  before  we  had  been  on 
shore  two  minutes  we  should  have  been  attacked  in  that 
way.  You  both  did  all  that  men  could  do,  as  was 
shown  by  the  condition  of  the  fellows  who  were  taken. 
I  was  just  as  much  separated  from  you  as  you  were  from 
me,  and  the  fact  that  we  were  surprised  as  we  were  is 


326  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

really  due  to  my  not  determining  to  stay  on  board  until 
the  morning,  which  I  could  no  doubt  have  done  with 
the  captain's  permission.  It  never  struck  me  for  a  mo- 
ment that  we  should  be  attacked  in  force.  I  thought  it 
probable  that  an  attempt  at  assassination  would  be  made, 
but  it  certainly  did  not  seem  probable  that  it  would  be 
attempted  while  you  were  all  with  me.  You  are  not  in 
the  slightest  degree  to  blame,  for  your  part  of  the  agree- 
ment was  carried  out  to  my  satisfaction.  I  shall  cer- 
tainly carry  out  mine,  as  I  have  arrived  home  safe  and 
sound." 

"  Well,  governor,  it  is  very  good  of  you,  but  I  tell  you 
it  will  go  against  the  grain  for  us  to  take  your  money." 

On  landing,  Mark  parted  with  Dick  Chetwynd,  who 
had  arranged  to  drop  Mark's  bag  at  his  lodgings  on  his 
way  home,  and  at  once  took  a  hackney  coach  to  Isling- 
ton. Millicent  gave  a  cry  of  delight  as  he  entered  the 
room. 

"You  are  back  earlier  than  I  expected,  Mark.  You 
told  me  before  you  started  that  the  wind  was  in  the  east, 
and  that  you  might  be  a  long  time  getting  to  Amster- 
dam unless  it  changed.  I  have  been  watching  the  vane 
on  the  church,  and  it  has  been  pointing  east  ever  since. 
Well  you  have  sold  the  diamonds,  I  hope  ?"  she  said, 
after  the  first  greeting  was  over. 

"  No  ;  I  have  bad  news  for  you,  Millicent :  the  jewels 
have  been  stolen." 

"  Well,  it  does  not  make  much  difference,  Mark.  We 
have  much  more  than  enough  without  them,  so  don't 
bother  yourself  in  the  least.      How  did  it  happen  ?" 

"  Well,  it  is  rather  a  long  story.     I  will  tell  it  you 


THE   BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  327 

when  Mrs.  Cunningham  is  here,  so  as  not  to  have  to  go 
over  it  twice.      How  are  the  dresses  getting  on  ?" 

"I  suppose  they  are  getting  on  all  right,"  she  said. 
"  I  have  done  nothing  for  the  last  two  days  but  try  them 
on.  You  see,  we  put  them  out  to  three  milliners,  and 
they  all  three  seem  to  reach  the  same  point  together, 
and  I  start  after  breakfast,  and  it  takes  about  two  hours 
at  each  place.  You  don't  know  what  trouble  you  have 
given  me  by  hurrying  things  on  so  unreasonably." 

"Well,  it  is  better  to  have  it  all  done  and  over,"  he 
said,  "  than  to  have  the  thing  hanging  over  you  for  a 
couple  of  months." 

"That  is  what  Mrs.  Cunningham  says.  Now,  I  want 
to  hear  about  your  adventures,  and  I  will  call  her  down. 
Only  think,  Mrs.  Cunningham,"  Millicent  said,  presently, 
with  a  laugh,  after  she  had  returned  with  her,  "  this  silly 
boy  has  actually  let  the  diamonds  be  stolen  from  him." 

"No;  really,  Millicent!" 

"  Yes,  indeed.  Fancy  his  not  being  fit  to  be  trusted 
to  look  after  them.  However,  I  tell  him  it  is  of  no  con- 
sequence. I  don't  know  how  they  went.  He  would  not 
tell  me  the  story  till  you  came  down." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  it  is  true,  Mrs.  Cunningham, 
although  I  can  assure  you  that  I  really  cannot  blame 
myself  for  either  carelessness  or  stupidity.  I  knew  when 
I  started  that  there  was  a  very  great  risk,  and  took  what 
seemed  to  me  every  possible  precaution,  for,  in  addition 
to  Dick  Chetwynd  going  with  me,  I  took  two  detectives 
from  Bow  Street  and  two  prize-fighters." 

Exclamations  of  surprise  broke  from  both  ladies. 

"  And  yet  in  spite  of  all  that  these  things  were  stolen," 


328  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

Millicent  said.  "  How  on  earth  did  they  do  it  ?  I  should 
have  sewn  them  up  in  my  pockets  inside  my  dress." 

"  I  sewed  them  up  in  the  waistband  of  my  trousers, 
Millicent,  and  yet  they  managed  in  spite  of  us  to  steal 
them.  And  now  I  must  begin  by  telling  you  the  whole 
histor>^  of  those  diamonds,  and  you  will  understand 
why  I  thought  it  necessary  to  take  a  strong  party  with 
me. 

He  then  told  them,  repeating  the  history  the  colonel 
had  given  his  father  of  the  diamonds  and  the  conviction 
that  he  had,  that  he  had  been  followed  by  Hindoos,  and 
the  instructions  he  had  given  for  the  disposal  of  the 
bracelet. 

"As  you  know,"  he  said,  "nothing  happened  to  con- 
firm my  uncle's  belief  that  there  were  men  over  here  in 
search  of  the  diamonds  during  my  father's  life,  but  since 
then  I  have  come  to  the  same  conclusion  that  he  had, 
and  felt  positive  that  I  was  being  constantly  followed 
wherever  I  went  As  soon  as  I  heard  where  the  treasure 
was  I  began  to  take  every  precaution  in  my  power.  I 
avoided  going  to  the  bank  after  my  first  visit  there,  and, 
as  you  know,  would  not  bring  the  things  for  you  to  look 
at.  I  got  Dick  Chetwynd  to  go  there,  open  the  case, 
and  take  out  these  diamonds.  He  did  not  bring  them 
away  with  him  then,  but  fetched  them  from  there  the 
morning  we  started.  He  went  down  and  took  the  pas- 
sage for  us  both  at  the  shipping  office,  and  the  pugilists 
and  the  detectives  each  took  passage  for  themselves,  so 
that,  as  I  hoped,  however  closely  I  was  followed,  they 
would  not  learn  that  I  was  taking  them  to  Amsterdam." 

"It  was  very  wrong,    Mark,  very  wrong,    indeed," 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  329 

Millicent  broke  in.  "  You  had  no  right  to  run  such 
a  terrible  risk.  It  would  have  been  better  for  you  to 
have  taken  the  diamonds  and  thrown  them  into  the 
Thames." 

"That  would  not  have  improved  matters,"  he  said. 
"  The  Indians  would  not  have  known  that  I  had  got  rid 
of  them,  and  would  have  continued  their  efforts  to  find 
them,  and  I  should  always  have  been  in  danger  instead 
of  getting  it  done  once  for  all.  However,  I  did  not 
think  that  there  was  any  danger,  going  over  as  I  did 
with  two  of  the  best  prize-fighters  in  England,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  detectives,  who  were  the  men  who  were 
with  me  when  I  caught  Bastow.  The  only  danger  was 
that  I  might  be  stabbed.  But,  as  they  would  know,  it 
was  no  use  their  stabbing  me  unless  they  could  search  me 
quietly,  and  that  they  could  not  do  unless  I  was  alone 
and  in  some  lonely  neighbourhood,  and  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  not  to  stir  out  unless  the  whole  party  were 
with  me.  I  found  out  when  I  got  on  board  that,  in 
spite  of  all  the  precautions  I  had  taken,  they  had  dis- 
covered that  I  was  going  to  sail  for  Amsterdam,  which 
they  could  only  have  done  by  following  Dick  as  well  as 
myself  There  was  a  dark-faced  foreign  sailor,  who  I 
had  no  doubt  was  a  Hindoo,  already  on  board,  and  I 
saw  another  in  a  boat  watching  us  start.  This  was  un- 
pleasant ;  but,  as  I  felt  sure  that  they  could  not  have 
known  that  I  had  with  me  detectives  and  pugilists, 
I  still  felt  that  they  would  be  able  to  do  nothing  when  I 
got  to  Amsterdam." 

Then  he  told  them  the  whole  story  of  the  attack,  of 
his  being  carried  away,  and  of  his  unexpected  release ; 


330  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

of  the  search  that  had  been  made  for  him,  and  the 
arrest  of  eighteen  of  his  assailants. 

Millicent  grew  pale  as  he  continued,  and  burst  into 
tears  when  she  heard  of  his  being  a  prisoner  in  the  hands 
of  the  Hindoos. 

"  I  shall  never  let  you  go  out  of  my  sight  again, 
Mark,"  she  exclaimed,  when  he  had  finished.  "It  was 
bad  enough  before  when  you  were  searching  for  that 
man  here,  and  I  used  to  be  terribly  anxious,  but  that 
was  nothing  to  this." 

"  Well,  there  is  an  end  of  it  now,  Millicent ;  the  men 
have  got  the  diamonds,  and  will  soon  be  on  their  way 
to  India,  if  they  have  not  started  already." 

"  Nasty  things,"  she  said,  "  I  shall  never  like  dia- 
monds again  ;  they  will  always  remind  me  of  the  terrible 
danger  that  you  have  run.  Isn't  it  extraordinary  that 
for  twenty  years  four  or  five  men  should  be  spending 
their  lives  waiting  for  a  chance  of  getting  them  back  !" 

"  I  do  not  expect  there  were  so  many  as  that ;  prob- 
ably there  was  only  one.  He  would  have  no  difficulty 
in  learning  that  my  father  had  not  received  any  extraor- 
dinary gems  from  my  uncle,  and  probably  supposed  that 
they  would  not  be  taken  out  from  wherever  they  might 
be  until  you  came  of  age.  After  the  death  of  my 
father  he  might  suppose  that  I  should  take  them  out,  or 
that,  at  any  rate,  I  should  go  to  whoever  had  them,  and 
see  that  they  were  all  right,  and  he  would  then  hire  per- 
haps half  a  dozen  Lascars, — there  are  plenty  of  them  at 
the  docks, — and  have  watched  me  wherever  I  went ;  and 
do  you  know  that  I  believe  I  once  owed  my  life  to 
them." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  331 

"  How  was  that,  Mark  ?" 

"  Well,  I  was  captured  by  some  fellows  who  suspected 
me  to  be  a  Bow  Street  runner,  and  I  think  that  it  would 
have  gone  very  hard  with  me  if  a  party  of  five  or  six 
prize-fighters  had  not  broken  into  the  house,  pretty 
nearly  killed  the  men  in  whose  hands  I  was,  and  rescued 
me.  They  said  that  they  had  heard  of  my  danger  from 
a  foreign  sailor,  who  called  at  Gibbons' s,  with  whom  I 
was  in  the  habit  of  boxing,  and  told  him  about  it.  You 
see,  until  they  learned  where  the  jewels  were,  my  life  was 
valuable  to  them,  for  possibly  I  was  the  only  person  who 
knew  where  they  were  hidden  ;  so  really  I  don't  think  I 
have  any  reason  for  bearing  a  grudge  against  them. 
They  saved  my  life  in  the  first  place,  and  spared  it  at 
what  was  a  distinct  risk  to  themselves.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  were  content  with  regaining  the  bracelet,  not 
even,  as  I  told  you,  taking  my  watch  or  purse.  You 
see  with  them  it  was  a  matter  of  religion.  They  had  no 
animosity  against  me  personally,  but  I  have  no  doubt 
they  would  have  stabbed  me  without  the  slightest  com- 
punction had  there  been  no  other  way  of  getting  the 
things.  Still,  I  think  I  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  them 
rather  than  the  reverse,  and,  after  all,  the  loss  of  the 
bracelet  is  not  a  serious  one  to  us." 

"I  am  glad  it  is  gone,"  Millicent,  said  ;  "you  say  it 
had  already  caused  the  death  of  two  men,  and  if  you 
had  succeeded  in  selling  it,  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
the  money  would  have  brought  ill-fortune  to  us.  I  am 
heartily  glad  that  they  are  gone,  Mark.  I  suppose  they 
were  very  handsome." 

"They  were  magnificent,"  he  said.      "Dick  and  Cot- 


332  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

ter  both  agreed  that  they  had  never  seen  their  equal, 
and  I  fancy  that  they  must  have  been  worth  a  great  deal 
more  than  your  father  valued  them  at." 

"Well,  it  does  not  matter  at  all ;  there  is  no  history 
attached  to  the  others,  I  hope,  Mark?" 

"  Not  in  any  way,  dear.  They  were  bought,  as  the 
colonel  told  my  father,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things, 
and  some  no  doubt  were  obtained  at  the  capture  of 
some  of  the  native  princes'  treasuries,  but  it  was  solely 
on  account  of  this  bracelet  that  he  had  any  anxiety. 
You  can  wear  all  the  others  if  you  have  a  fancy  for 
keeping  them,  without  a  shadow  of  risk." 

"  No,  Mark,  we  will  sell  them  every  one.  I  don't 
think  that  I  shall  ever  care  to  wear  any  jewels  again ; 
and  if  I  am  ever  presented  at  court  and  have  to  do  so,  I 
would  rather  that  you  should  buy  some  new  ones  fresh 
from  a  jeweller's  shop  than  wear  anything  that  has  come 
from  India," 

"  To-morrow  you  shall  both  go  to  the  bank  with  me 
to  see  them,  and  then  I  will  take  them  to  some  first-class 
jeweller's  and  get  him  to  value  them." 

The  visit  was  paid  next  day.  Both  Millicent  and 
Mrs.  Cunningham  were  somewhat  disappointed  at  the 
jewels. 

"It  is  hardly  fair  to  see  them  like  this,"  Philip  Cotter 
said.  "They  would  look  very  different  if  reset.  No 
Indian  jewels  I  have  ever  seen  show  to  advantage  in 
their  native  settings  ;  but  many  of  the  stones  are  very 
large,  and  without  knowing  anything  about  them  I 
should  say  that  they  are  fully  worth  the  ;^2 5,000  at 
which  you  say  Colonel  Thorndyke  valued  them.     He 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  333 

was  not  likely  to  be  mistaken.  He  was  evidently  a 
judge  of  these  matters,  and  would  hardly  be  likely  to 
be  far  wrong." 

"We  will  go  with  you  to  the  jewellers,  Mark,"  Milli- 
cent  said.  "  In  the  first  place,  I  shall  not  feel  quite 
comfortable  until  I  know  that  they  are  out  of  your 
hands,  and  in  the  next  place  I  should  like  to  hear  what 
he  thinks  of  them." 

"  I  have  a  number  of  Indian  jewels  that  I  wish  you 
to  value  for  me,"  Mark  said,  as,  carrying  the  case,  he 
entered  the  jeweller's  shop.  They  were  collected  by 
Colonel  Thomdyke,  an  uncle  of  mine,  during  service  in 
India." 

The  jeweller  took  them  with  him  into  a  room  behind 
the  shop.  The  case  was  opened,  and  the  man  took  out 
sixty-eight  small  parcels  it  contained,  and  opened  them 
one  after  the  other. 

"  I  shall  need  a  very  careful  examination  of  these 
before  I  can  form  any  estimate  of  their  value,"  he  said, 
after  inspecting  some  of  the  more  important  pieces  of 
jewelry  carefully.  "They  are  a  most  magnificent  col- 
lection, and  had  they  been  properly  cut  in  the  first 
place  they  would  have  been  worth  a  very  large  sum. 
Unfortunately,  the  Indian  princes  think  more  of  size 
than  of  lustre,  and  have  their  stones  cut  very  much  too 
flat  to  show  off  their  full  brilliancy.  Some  of  these 
large  ones  I  should  certainly  advise  to  be  recut,  for 
what  they  will  lose  in  weight  they  will  gain  in  beauty 
and  value.  However,  sir,  I  will  go  through  them  and 
give  you  an  estimate  of  the  selling  value  of  each  piece. 
I  need  not  say  that  they  ought  all  to  be  reset  in  the 


334  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

prevailing  fashion,  but  the  gold,  which  is  in  some  cases 
unnecessarily  massive,  will  go  some  distance  towards 
defraying  the  expense." 

"When  shall  I  call  again?"  Mark  asked. 

"  I  should  be  glad  if  you  can  give  me  a  week," 
the  jeweller  said.  "Some  of  the  things,  for  instance 
that  great  pearl  necklace,  I  could  appraise  without 
much  difficulty,  but  all  the  gems  must  be  taken  out  of 
their  settings  before  I  could  form  a  fair  idea  of  their 
value." 

"Then  I  will  call  in  a  week's  time,"  Mark  said.  "I 
am  in  no  particular  hurry  about  them,  but  I  would 
rather  that  they  were  in  your  care  than  mine." 

"  Yes  ;  if  the  cracksmen  got  word  that  there  was  such 
a  collection  as  this  in  any  private  house  it  would  need 
a  couple  of  men  with  pistols  to  keep  guard  over  them." 

A  week  later  Mark  again  called. 

"  I  have  the  list  ready  for  you,  sir ;  you  will  see  that 
they  are  not  marked  according  to  their  setting,  but  ac- 
cording to  their  size  and  value.  Thus,  you  see,  the 
largest  stones  are  priced  separately ;  the  smaller  ones 
are  in  groups  according  to  their  weight.  The  total 
comes  to  ^42,000.  I  do  not  know  whether  that  at  all 
equals  your  expectations.  I  may  say  that  I  have  shown 
the  stones  to  two  or  three  of  our  principal  diamond 
merchants,  and  that  the  prices  I  have  put  down  are 
those  at  which  they  would  be  willing  to  buy  them  ; 
possibly  some  would  be  worth  more.  I  had  the  mer- 
chants here  together,  and  they  spent  some  hours  going 
through  them,  and  the  sums  put  down  are  those  at 
which  one  or  other  were  willing  to  purchase." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  335 

"  It  quite  answers  my  expectations,"  Mark  said.  "  My 
uncle's  estimate,  indeed,  was  somewhat  lower,  but,  doubt- 
less he  judged  them  at  the  price  which  they  would  fetch 
in  India.  Well,  sir,  I  authorize  you  to  close  with  the 
offers,  and  to  dispose  of  them  for  me.  I  will  give  you  a 
written  authority  to  do  so.  In  the  meantime,  I  wish  to 
buy  a  suite  of  jewels  as  a  wedding-present,  a  tiara,  neck- 
lace, and  bracelets ;  but  I  do  not  want  any  diamonds  to 
be  among  them." 

"  I  am  afraid  I  have  nothing  in  stock  without  dia- 
monds ;  of  course,  I  have  both  necklaces  and  bracelets 
of  almost  any  stones  that  you  might  select,  but  I  have 
no  complete  set  without  diamonds  ;  the  effect  would  be 
sombre,  and  few  ladies  would  Hke  them." 

"  We  have  some  unpleasant  associations  with  dia- 
monds," Mark  said,  "and  on  that  point  I  am  quite  de- 
termined ;  but  if  you  used  pearls  instead  of  diamonds 
the  effect  might  be  as  good.  I  don't  care  whether  the 
stones  are  emeralds  or  rubies  ;  at  any  rate,  I  should  like 
to  see  some,  and  then  perhaps  you  might  be  able  to 
make  me  a  set  on  the  same  model." 

Several  superb  sets  were  brought  in  ;  Mark  selected 
one  of  emeralds  and  diamonds. 

"What  would  be  the  price  of  this  set?"  he  asked, 

"  That  set  is  ;^6ooo,  sir  ;  the  stones  are  exceptionally 
fine  ones  ;  but  if  you  substituted  pearls  of  equal  size  for 
the  diamonds,  it  would  cost  considerably  less  ;  I  could 
not  give  you  the  exact  price  until  it  is  made,  but  I 
should  say  that  it  would  be  about  ^^4500." 

"  Very  well,  then,  I  will  take  that.  How  long  will  it 
be  making?" 


336  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"  I  should  not  like  to  say  less  than  three  months  at 
the  earliest ;  it  will  require  some  time  to  collect  as  fine 
a  set  of  emeralds  as  these.  Indeed,  I  think  that  most 
probably  I  shall  use  these  emeralds,  or  the  greater  part 
of  them,  and  collect  others  to  take  their  places  at  my 
leisure.  I  do  not  know  but  that  the  best  plan  would 
be  to  take  the  diamonds  out  and  substitute  pearls  ;  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  them,  and  in  that  case 
I  might  have  them  ready  for  you  in  a  month," 

"  I  think  that  will  be  the  best  plan  ;  but  you  need  not 
be  in  any  particular  hurry  about  them,  my  marriage  will 
take  place  in  less  than  a  fortnight,  and  after  that  it  will 
probably  be  two  or  three  months  before  I  return  to  Lon- 
don ;  I  will  get  you  to  keep  the  things  until  I  come 
back." 

"I  have  sold  the  jewels,  Millicent,"  he  said,  when  he 
returned  to  Islington  ;  "  the  jeweller  has  found  pur- 
chasers for  them  all,  and  the  total  comes  to  ^42,000." 

Millicent's  eyes  opened  in  surprise, 

"Whatever  shall  we  do  with  all  our  money,  Mark  ?" 

"  I  rather  wonder  myself,  dear.  However,  there  is 
one  thing,  there  are  always  plenty  of  people  who  will 
be  glad  to  relieve  us  of  anything  that  we  don't  want.  I 
can  tell  you  that  in  the  course  of  my  search  for  Bastow 
I  have  seen  an  amount  of  poverty  and  misery  such  as  I 
never  dreamt  of,  and  I  certainly  should  like  to  do  some- 
thing to  relieve  it.  The  best  thing  that  I  know  of  would 
be  to  give  a  handsome  sum  to  three  or  four  of  the  great 
hospitals.  I  don't  know  of  any  better  means  of  helping 
the  very  poor." 

"Suppose,  Mark,"  the  girl  said,  putting  her  hand  on 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  337 

his  arm,  "  we  give  this  ;^42,ooo  as  a  thank-offering.  We 
never  expected  to  get  it,  and  my  father's  jewels  have 
nearly  cost  you  your  life.  We  have  such  an  abundance 
without  it,  that  I  should  like,  above  all  things,  to  give 
this  money  away." 

'*  I  think  that  is  an  excellent  plan,  Millicent,  and  a 
very  happy  thought  on  your  part  We  cannot  do  it 
now,  as  we  have  not  yet  got  the  money,  but  as  soon  as 
we  do,  we  will  send  off  cheques  for  ten  thousand  guineas 
each  to  St.  Bartholomew's,  Guy's,  and  St  Thomas's, 
those  are  the  three  principal  ones  ;  the  other  we  can 
settle  afterwards.  But  I  should  say  that  the  Foundling 
would  be  as  good  as  any,  and  I  believe  that  they  are 
rather  short  of  funds  at  present ;  then  there  is  the  Lon- 
don Mendicity  Society,  and  many  other  good  charities. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  divide  the  whole  among 
eight  of  them  instead  of  four ;  but  we  need  not  settle 
that  until  we  return." 

"  Do  you  think  we  shall  have  to  go  to  this  horrid 
Amsterdam,  Mark?" 

"  I  hope  not,  dear ;  but  I  shall  no  doubt  hear  from 
the  lieutenant  of  the  watch  during  the  next  week  or  ten 
days." 

When  the  letter  came  it  was  satisfactory.  The  pris- 
oners, seeing  the  hopelessness  of  any  defence,  had  all 
admitted  their  guilt,  and  the  name  of  the  man  who  had 
dealt  with  them  had  also  been  given  up.  Except  in  his 
case  there  would  be  no  trial.  The  others  would  have 
sentences  passed  on  them  at  once,  and  the  three,  who 
had  been  promised  comparatively  slight  punishment 
had  gone  in  the  box  to  give  evidence  against  the  man 


338  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

who  had  engaged  them.  Before  starting  for  Holland, 
Mark  had  consulted  Millicent  as  to  whether  she  would 
prefer  being  married  in  London  or  at  Crowswood.  She 
had  replied, — 

"  I  should  greatly  prefer  Crowswood,  Mark.  Here 
we  know  no  one  ;  there  we  should  be  among  all  our 
friends  ;  certainly  if  we  don't  go  we  must  get  Mr.  Greg 
to  come  up  and  marry  us  here.  I  am  sure  he  would 
feel  very  disappointed  if  anyone  else  were  asked.  At 
the  same  time  I  should  not  like  to  go  home.  When 
we  come  back  from  our  trip  it  will  be  different ;  but 
it  would  be  a  great  trial  now,  and  however  happy  we 
might  be  I  should  feel  there  was  a  gloom  over  the 
house." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you,  Millicent.  When  we  come 
back  we  can  see  about  entirely  refurnishing  it,  and, 
perhaps,  adding  some  rooms  to  it,  and  we  need  not  go 
down  until  a  complete  change  has  been  made.  We 
shall  be  able  to  manage  it  somehow  or  other,  and  I 
quite  agree  with  you  that  anything  will  be  better  than 
going  back  to  the  house  for  a  day  or  two  before  the 
wedding." 

On  the  voyage  back  from  Holland  Mark  had  talked 
the  matter  over  with  Dick  Chetwynd,  and  said  that  he 
thought  of  taking  rooms  for  Mrs.  Cunningham  and 
Millicent  at  Reigate  and  stopping  at  the  hotel  himself, 
and  having  the  wedding-breakfast  there. 

"  Of  course,  Dick,  you  will  be  my  best  man." 

"I  should  think  so,"  Dick  laughed.  "Why,  if  you 
had  asked  anyone  else  I  should  have  made  a  personal 
matter  of  it  with  him,  and  have  given  him  the  option 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  339 

of  resigning  the  position  or  going  out  with  me.  But 
your  other  plans  are  foolish,  and  I  shall  take  the  matter 
into  my  own  hands  ;  I  shall  insist  upon  the  two  ladies 
coming  down  to  the  Park,  and  I  will  get  my  aunt  to 
come  and  preside  generally  over  things.  I  shall  fill  up 
the  house  with  bridesmaids  and  that  sort  of  thing,  and 
shall  have  a  dance  the  evening  before.  You  can  put 
up  at  the  hotel  if  you  like,  but  you  know  very  well  that 
there  are  a  dozen  houses  where  they  will  be  delighted 
to  have  you  ;  there  is  no  doubt  that  when  they  know 
what  is  coming  off  you  will  get  a  dozen  invitations, 
and  then  after  church  all  those  invited  will  drive  off  to 
the  Park  to  the  wedding-breakfast  After  that  is  over 
you  can  start  in  a  post-chaise  to  Canterbury  or  Dover, 
wherever  you  may  decide  to  make  your  first  halt." 

"  But  my  dear  Dick,  I  could  not  put  you  to  all  this 
trouble  !" 

"Nonsense,  man.  I  should  enjoy  it  immensely; 
besides,  I  shall  be  really  glad  of  a  good  reason  to  try 
and  open  the  doors  of  the  Park  again.  I  have  been 
there  very  little  since  my  father's  death,  and  I  think  I 
shall  make  it  my  head-quarters  in  future.  I  am  getting 
rather  tired  of  bachelor  life  in  London,  and  must  look 
out  for  a  wife  ;  so  nothing  could  be  more  appropriate 
than  this  idea.  Don't  bother  yourself  any  further  about 
it  I  shall  ride  down  and  establish  myself  there  to- 
morrow, spend  a  couple  of  days  in  driving  round  to  our 
friends,  and  in  sending  out  invitations.  I  shall  still  have 
nearly  a  fortnight  for  making  all  preparations.  Why,  it 
will  cause  quite  an  excitement  in  the  neighbourhood. 
I  shall  be  hailed  as  a  benefactor,  and  I  shall  let  ever}- 


340  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

one  know  that  your  father's  ward  was  really  your  cousin, 
but  that  by  the  will  of  her  father  she  was  to  drop  her 
surname  until  she  came  of  age,  and  that  until  that  time 
your  father  was  to  have  the  entire  control  of  the  prop- 
erty. I  shall  add  that,  although  the  estate,  of  course,  is 
hers,  your  uncle  has  left  you  a  very  large  fortune,  and 
that  nothing  could  be  more  suitable  in  all  respects  than 
the  marriage." 

"  That  will  do  excellently,  Dick  ;  that  will  be  quite 
enough,  without  going  into  details  at  all.  You  can 
mention  that  we  intend  to  have  the  house  entirely  re- 
furnished, and  on  the  return  from  our  wedding-trip 
abroad  to  settle  there.  I  am  sure  I  am  extremely 
obliged  to  you  for  your  offer,  which  will  certainly  clear 
away  all  sorts  of  small  difficulties." 

A  day  or  two  after  his  return,  Mark  wrote  to  Mr. 
Greg,  telling  him  the  relations  in  which  Millicent  and 
he  stood  to  each  other,  and  of  the  near  approach  of  their 
marriage.  He  said  that  Millicent  would  be  married  from 
Dick  Chetwynd's,  but  that  it  would  be  at  Crowswood 
church.  In  return,  he  received  a  warm  letter  of  con- 
gratulation from  the  rector,  telling  him  that  the  news 
was  in  every  respect  delightful,  and  that  his  wife  and  the 
children  were  in  a  state  of  the  highest  excitement,  not 
only  at  the  marriage,  but  at  their  coming  down  to  reside 
again  at  Crowswood. 

"The  village,"  he  said,  "will  be  scarcely  less  pleased 
than  I  am  ;  for  though  everything  goes  on  as  you  ordered, 
and  the  people  get  their  milk,  broths,  and  jellies  as  before, 
they  don't  look  at  it  as  the  same  thing  as  it  was  in  the 
old  days.     I  cannot  say  that  the  news  of  your  engage- 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  341 

ment  to  Miss  Conyers — I  ought  to  say  Miss  Thorndyke 
— is  surprising,  for  I  had  thought  that  it  would  be  quite 
the  natural  thing  for  you  to  fall  in  love  with  each  other, 
and,  indeed,  my  wife  declares  that  she  saw  it  coming  on 
distinctly  during  the  last  few  months  before  you  left 
here.  Your  postscript,  saying  that  Bastow  had  been 
captured  and  had  committed  suicide,  gave  me  a  distinct 
feeling  of  relief,  for  no  one  could  tell  whether  the  deadly 
enmity  that  he  felt  for  your  father  might  not  extend  to 
you.  I  have  cut  this  note  rather  short,  but  I  have  just 
heard  the  door  shut,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  my  wife 
has  gone  down  to  tell  the  good  news  in  the  village,  and 
I  really  cannot  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  telling  some 
of  the  people  and  seeing  their  faces  brighten  up  at  the 
news." 

As  Dick  had  foretold  would  be  the  case,  Mark  received 
a  very  warm  letter  from  Sir  Charles  Harris,  congratulating 
him  upon  his  approaching  marriage,  and  insisting  upon 
his  taking  up  his  quarters  with  him. 

**  I  am  sending  a  man  down  with  this  to  hand  it  to  the 
guard  as  the  up  coach  goes  through  the  town.  Chet- 
wynd  told  me  that  his  call  on  me  was  the  first  he  had 
paid,  so  I  feel  fairly  confident  that  I  shall  forestall  the 
rest  of  your  friends  and  that  you  will  give  me  the  pleas- 
ure of  your  company." 

Mark  wrote  back  accepting  the  invitation  at  once, 
which  enabled  him  to  decline  half  a  dozen  others  with- 
out the  necessity  of  making  a  choice.  Everything  turned 
out  as  arranged.  Millicent  and  Mrs.  Cunningham  went 
down  in  a  post-chaise  two  days  before  the  wedding,  and 
Mark  drove  down  in  his  gig  with  them,     Dick  Chet- 


342  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

wynd  met  them  on  horseback  just  outside  Reigate,  and 
escorted  the  ladies  to  his  house,  Mark  driving  on  to  that 
of  Sir  Charles  Harris.  Millicent  found  the  house  full 
of  her  special  friends,  whom  she  had  asked  to  be  her 
bridesmaids.  She  was  almost  bewildered  by  the  warmth 
of  their  welcome,  and  overpowered  by  the  questions 
poured  upon  her. 

"  The  news  quite  took  all  our  breath  away,  Millicent," 
one  of  them  said  ;  "  it  seems  extraordinaiy  that  you 
should  have  been  Miss  Thorndyke  all  the  time,  though 
I  don't  think  that  any  of  us  were  at  all  surprised  that 
you  should  take  the  name  now ;  you  must  have  been 
surprised  when  you  heard  that  you  were  the  heiress  of 
Crowswood." 

"  I  was  a  great  deal  more  disgusted  than  surprised," 
she  said,  rather  indignantly.  "  I  did  not  think  that  it 
was  fair  at  all  that  I  should  step  into  Mark's  shoes." 

"Well,  it  has  all  come  right  now,  Millicent,  and  I 
dare  say  you  thought  that  it  would,  even  then." 

"  I  can  assure  you  that  I  did  not  ;  quite  the  contrary, 
I  thought  that  it  never  would  come  right.  I  was  very 
unhappy  about  it  for  a  time." 

"Now,  young  ladies,"  Dick  Chetwynd  laughed,  "will 
you  please  take  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Miss  Thorndyke 
up  to  their  rooms.  I  don't  suppose  I  shall  see  any  more 
of  you  before  dinner  time  ;  there  are  those  trunks  to  be 
opened  and  examined,  talked  over  and  admired.  Mind, 
I  have  fifteen  more,  for  the  most  part  men,  coming  to 
dinner,  so  those  of  you  who  aspire  to  follow  Miss  Thorn- 
dyke's  example  had  best  prepare  yourselves  for  con- 
quest." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  343 

The  ball  on  the  following  evening  was  a  great  suc- 
cess. Dick  had  determined  that  it  should  be  a  memo- 
rable one,  and  there  was  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  it 
was  the  most  brilliant  that  had  taken  place  in  that  part 
of  the  country  for  many  years. 

Crowswood  church  and  village  presented  a  most  fes- 
tive appearance  on  the  following  day ;  there  was  not  a 
cottage  that  had  not  great  posies  of  flowers  in  its  win- 
dows, and  that  had  not  made  some  sort  of  attempt  at 
decoration  with  flags  or  flowers.  A  huge  arch  of  ever- 
greens, with  sheaves  of  wheat  and  flowers,  had  been 
erected  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  turned  out  in  their  best  and  cheered  lustily, 
first,  when  Mark  drove  up  in  his  gig,  and  then  when  the 
Chetwynd  carriage,  drawn  by  four  grey  horses,  dashed 
merrily  by,  containing  the  bride,  bridesmaids,  and  friends. 
The  church  was  already  crowded,  and  Mr.  Greg  was 
visibly  moved  at  seeing  the  son  and  niece  of  the  man 
to  whom  he  owed  his  living  made  man  and  wife.  When 
the  wedding-breakfast,  at  which  more  than  fifty  sat  down, 
and  the  necessary  toasts  were  over,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thorn- 
dyke  started  for  Canterbury. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

IT  was  not  until  Easter  that  Mark  Thorndyke  and  his 
wife  returned  to  England.  They  had  spent  the 
greater  portion  of  that  time  in  Italy,  lingering  for 
a  month  at  Venice,  and  had  then  journeyed  quietly 
homewards  through  Bavaria  and  Saxony.  They  were 
in  no  hurry,  as  before  starting  on  their  honeymoon 
Mark  had  consulted  an  architect,  had  told  him  exactly 
what  he  wanted,  and  had  left  the  matter  in  his  hands. 
Mrs.  Cunningham  had  from  time  to  time  kept  them 
informed  how  things  were  going  on.  The  part  of  the 
house  in  which  the  Squire's  room  had  been  situated  was 
entirely  pulled  down  and  a  new  wing  built  in  its  stead. 
Millicent  had  been  specially  wishful  that  this  should  be 
done. 

"I  don't  know  that  I  am  superstitious,  Mark,"  she 
had  said,  "  but  I  do  think  that  when  a  murder  has  taken 
place  in  a  house  it  is  better  to  make  a  complete  change. 
The  servants  always  think  they  see  or  hear  something. 
That  part  of  the  house  is  avoided,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
344 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  345 

get  anyone  to  stay  there.  I  think  it  is  very  much  more 
important  to  do  that  than  it  is  to  get  the  house  refur- 
nished ;  we  can  do  anything  in  that  way  you  like  when 
we  get  back,  but  I  should  certainly  like  very  much  to 
have  the  great  alteration  made  before  we  return." 

The  architect  was  a  clever  one,  and  the  house,  which 
was  some  two  hundred  years  old,  was  greatly  improved 
in  appearance  by  the  new  wing,  which  was  made  to 
harmonise  well  with  the  rest,  but  was  specially  designed 
to  give  as  much  variety  as  possible  to  the  general  out- 
line. Millicent  uttered  an  exclamation  of  pleasure 
when  they  first  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  house.  As 
they  rode  through  the  village  they  were  again  as  heartily 
welcomed  as  they  were  on  their  wedding-day.  Mrs. 
Cunningham  received  them  ;  she  had  been  established 
there  for  a  month,  and  had  placed  the  house  entirely 
on  its  old  footing.  They  first  examined  the  new  por- 
tion of  the  house,  and  Millicent  was  greatly  pleased 
with  the  rooms  that  had  been  prepared  for  them, 
Mark  having  requested  Mrs.  Cunningham  to  put  the 
furnishing  into  the  hands  of  the  best-known  firm  of 
the  day. 

"I  have  asked,"  Mrs.  Cunningham  said,  "the  rector 
and  his  wife  and  Mr.  Chetwynd  to  dine  with  us  this 
evening  ;  they  can  scarcely  be  termed  company,  and  I 
thought  that  you  might  find  it  pleasant  to  have  these 
old  friends  here  the  first  evening.  There  is  a  letter  for 
you  on  the  library  table,  Mark  ;  it  may  almost  be  called 
a  packet ;  it  has  been  here  nearly  a  month." 

In  our  days  a  newly  married  couple  would  find  on 
their  return  from   foreign  travel    basketfuls  of  letters. 


346  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

circulars,  and  catalogues  from  tradesmen  of  all  kinds  ; 
happily  our  forefathers  were  saved  from  these  inflictions, 
and  Mark  at  once  went  to  the  library  with  almost  a  feel- 
ing of  surprise  as  to  who  could  have  written  to  him. 
He  saw  at  once  that  it  was  a  ship's  letter,  for  on  the 
top  was  written,  "  Favoured  by  the  '  Surinam.'  " 

"  Why  it  is  Ramoo's  writing.  I  suppose  he  gave  it 
to  someone  he  knew,  and  that  instead  of  its  being  put 
in  the  mail-bag  in  India  he  brought  it  on  with  him. 
What  a  tremendously  long  epistle,"  he  exclaimed, 
glancing  his  eye  down  the  first  page,  and  then  a  puzzled 
expression  came  across  his  face  ;  he  sat  down  and  be- 
gan to  read  from  the  first  slowly  and  carefully. 

"  Honoured  Sahib, — I  do  not  know  why  I  should 
write  to  tell  you  the  true  history  of  all  these  matters.  I 
have  thought  it  over  many  times,  but  I  feel  that  it  is 
right  that  you  should  know  clearly  what  has  happened, 
and  how  it  has  come  about,  and  more  especially  that 
you  should  know  that  you  need  never  fear  any  troubles 
such  as  those  that  have  taken  place.  I  am  beginning 
to  write  this  while  we  are  yet  sailing,  and  shall  send  it 
to  you  by  ship  from  the  Cape,  or  if  it  chances  that  we 
meet  any  ship  on  her  way  to  England,  our  letters  may 
be  put  on  board  her." 

"Why,  this  letter  must  be  more  than  a  year  old," 
Mark  said  to  himself.  There  was  no  date  to  the  letter, 
but,  turning  to  the  last  sheet,  he  saw,  as  a  postscript 
after  the  signature,  the  words  :  "  January  26.  A  ship, 
the  '  Surinam,'  is  lying  a  short  distance  from  us,  and 
will  take  our  letters  to  England." 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  347 

"  Yes,  it  must  be  a  year  old  ;  but  what  he  means  by 
the  way  he  begins  is  more  than  I  can  imagine."  And 
he  turned  back  to  the  point  at  which  he  had  broken  off 

"  I  would  tell  it  you  in  order  as  it  happened.  I,  Ramoo, 
am  a  Brahmin.  Twenty  years  ago  I  was  the  head  priest 
of  a  great  temple.  I  shall  not  say  where  the  temple 
was  ;  it  matters  not  in  any  way.  There  was  fighting,  as 
there  is  always  fighting  in  India  There  were  Com- 
pany's Sepoys  and  white  troops,  and  one  night  the  most 
sacred  bracelet  of  the  great  god  of  our  temple  was 
stolen." 

"Good  heavens!"  Mark  exclaimed,  laying  down  the 
letter.  "  Then  it  has  been  Ramoo  who  has  all  this  time 
been  in  pursuit  of  the  diamonds ;  and  to  think  that  my 
uncle  never  even  suspected  him  !"  Then  suddenly  he 
exclaimed,  "  Now  I  understand  how  it  was  that  my  life 
was  spared  by  those  fellows.  By  Jove,  this  is  astound- 
ing !"     Then  he  took  up  the  letter  again. 

"Two  of  the  Brahmins  under  me  had  observed,  at  a 
festival  the  day  before  the  bracelet  was  lost,  a  white 
soldier  staring  at  it  with  covetous  eyes.  One  of  them 
was  in  charge  of  the  temple  the  night  following.  He 
came  to  me  and  said,  '  I  desire  to  devote  my  life  to  the 
recovery  of  the  jewels  of  the  god.  Bondah  will  go  with 
me  ;  we  will  return  no  more  until  we  bring  them  back.' 
'  It  is  good,'  I  said  ;  '  the  god  must  be  appeased,  or  ter- 
rible misfortunes  may  happen.'  Then  we  held  a  solemn 
service  in  the  temple.  The  two  men  removed  the  caste 
marks  from  their  foreheads,  prostrated  themselves  before 


348  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

the  god,  and  went  out  from  amongst  us  as  outcasts  until 
the  day  of  their  death.  Two  months  later  a  messenger 
came  from  the  one  who  had  spoken  to  me,  saying  that 
they  had  found  the  man,  but  had  for  a  long  time  had  no 
opportunity  of  finding  the  bracelet.  Then  Bondah  had 
met  him  in  a  lonely  place  and  had  attacked  him.  Bon- 
dah had  lost  his  life,  but  the  soldier  was,  though  sorely 
wounded,  able  to  get  back  to  his  regiment.  He  had 
died,  but  he  had,  the  writer  was  convinced,  passed  the 
jewels  on  to  a  comrade  whom  he  would  watch.  Then 
I  saw  that  one  man  was  not  sufficient  for  such  a  task. 
Then  I,  too,  the  Chief  Brahmin  of  the  Temple,  saw  that 
it  was  my  duty  to  go  forth  also. 

"  I  laid  the  matter  before  the  others,  and  they  said, 
'  You  are  right ;  it  is  you  who,  as  the  chief  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  god,  should  bring  back  his  jewels.'  So  again 
there  was  a  service,  and  I  went  forth  as  an  outcast  and  a 
wanderer,  knowing  that  I  must  do  many  things  that 
were  forbidden  to  my  caste  ;  that  I  must  touch  unclean 
things,  must  eat  forbidden  food,  and  must  take  life  if 
needs  be.  You,  sahib,  cannot  understand  how  terrible 
was  the  degradation  to  me,  who  was  of  the  purest  blood 
of  the  Brahmins.  I  had  taken  the  most  solemn  vows 
to  devote  my  life  to  this.  I  knew  that  whether  success- 
ful or  not,  although  I  might  be  forgiven  my  offence  by 
the  god,  yet  that  never  again  could  I  recover  my  caste, 
even  though  the  heaviest  penances  were  performed. 
Henceforth  I  must  stand  alone  in  the  world,  without 
kindred,  without  friends,  without  help,  save  such  as  the 
god  might  give  me  in  the  search. 

"  I  was  rich.     The  greater  part  of  my  goods  I  gave 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  349 

to  the  Temple,  and  yet  retained  a  considerable  sum,  for 
I  should  need  money  to  carry  out  my  quest,  and  after  I 
had  accomplished  it  I  should  hand  over  what  remained 
for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.  I  should  myself  become 
a  fakir.  I  want  you  to  understand,  sahib,  that  hence- 
forth I  had  but  one  object  in  life,  a  supreme  one  to 
accomplish,  in  which  nothing  must  stand  in  my  way, 
and  that  what  would  be  in  others  a  crime  was  but  a  sac- 
rifice on  my  part,  most  acceptable  to  the  god.  I  jour- 
neyed down  to  the  place  where  my  comrade  was,  dressed 
as  one  of  the  lowest  class,  even  as  a  sweeper,  and  he  and 
I  strove  by  all  the  means  in  our  power  to  discover  what 
this  man  had  done  with  the  jewels.  Night  after  night 
we  crawled  into  his  tent.  We  searched  his  bed  and 
his  clothes.  With  sharp  rods  we  tried  every  inch  of 
the  soil,  believing  that  he  had  hidden  the  diamonds 
underground,  but  we  failed. 

"  Then  my  comrade  said,  '  I  must  give  my  life  to  find 
out  where  he  hides  these  things.  I  will  watch  night 
after  night  by  the  door  of  his  tent,  and  if  he  comes  out 
I  will  stab  him.  It  shall  be  a  mortal  wound,  but  I  will 
not  kill  him  outright  Before  he  dies  he  will  doubtless, 
as  the  other  did,  pass  the  jewels  on  to  some  comrade, 
and  then  it  will  be  for  you  to  follow  him  up.'  'It  is 
good,'  I  said.  'This  man  may  have  hidden  them 
away  somewhere  during  the  time  they  have  marched 
through  the  country.  In  spite  of  the  watch  you  have 
kept  he  may  have  said  to  himself,  "  I  will  return, 
though  it  be  years  hence."  Your  plan  is  good.  I  envy 
you.  'Tis  better  to  die  thus  than  to  live  in  sin  as  we 
are  doing.' 


350  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

"That  evening  the  man  was  stabbed,  but  an  officer 
running  up  killed  my  comrade.  The  soldier  was  taken 
to  the  hospital,  and  I  lay  down  beside  the  tent  with  my 
eye  to  a  slit  that  I  had  cut,  and  watched  till  morning. 

"Then  I  took  my  broom  and  swept  the  ground.  I 
had  not  been  hired  as  one  of  the  camp  sweepers,  and 
so  could  move  about  and  sweep  where  I  chose.  No 
one  ever  asked  me  any  questions.  The  soldiers  heeded 
me  no  more  than  if  I  had  been  a  dog,  and,  of  course, 
supposed  that  I  was  acting  by  the  order  of  the  head  of 
the  sweepers.  Presently  I  saw  one  of  the  servants  of 
the  hospital  go  across  to  the  tent  of  the  officer  who  had 
killed  my  comrade.  He  came  over  and  went  into  the 
hospital  tent,  I  felt  sure  that  it  was  the  wounded  man 
that  had  sent  for  him.  He  was  in  there  some  time. 
Presently  a  soldier  came  out  and  went  to  the  tent  of  the 
wounded  man,  and  returned,  bringing  a  musket.  Then 
I  said  to  myself,  'The  god  has  blinded  us.  He  wills 
that  we  shall  go  through  many  more  toils  before  we 
regain  the  bracelet.'  Doubtless  the  man  had  carried 
the  bracelet  in  his  musket  all  the  time,  and  we,  blind 
that  we  were,  never  thought  of  it. 

"  Presently  the  officer  came  out  again.  I  noticed  that 
as  he  did  so  he  looked  round  on  all  sides,  as  if  to  see 
if  he  were  watched  ;  then  I  knew  that  it  was  as  I  had 
thought  :  the  soldier  had  given  the  bracelet  to  him.  At 
this  I  was  well  pleased  ;  it  would  be  far  more  easy  to 
search  the  tent  of  an  officer  than  of  a  soldier,  who 
sleeps  surrounded  by  his  comrades.  I  thought  that 
there  was  no  hurry  now  ;  it  would  need  but  patience, 
and  I  should  be  sure  to  find  it      I  had  not  calculated 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  351 

that  he  would  have  better  opportunities  than  the  soldier 
for  going  about,  and  that  doubtless  the  soldier  had 
warned  him  of  his  danger.  Two  hours  later  the  officer 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  towards  the  camp  of  another 
regiment  a  mile  and  a  quarter  away.  There  was  nothing 
in  that,  but  I  watched  for  his  return  all  that  day  and  all 
that  night,  and  when  he  did  not  come  back,  I  felt  that 
he  was  doing  something  to  get  rid  of  the  diamonds. 

"  He  was  away  three  days,  and  when  he  returned  I 
was  almost  sure  that  he  had  not  the  diamonds  about 
him.  As  he  had  ridden  off  he  had  looked  about  just 
as  he  had  when  he  left  the  hospital :  he  was  uneasy,  just 
as  if  he  were  watched ;  now  he  was  uneasy  no  longer. 
Then  I  knew  that  my  search  would  be  a  long  one  and 
might  fail  altogether.  I  went  away,  and  for  three 
months  I  prayed  and  fasted ;  then  I  returned.  I 
bought  different  clothes,  I  painted  my  forehead  with 
another  caste  mark,  then  I  bought  from  the  servant  of 
an  officer  in  another  regiment  his  papers  of  service, — 
recommendations  from  former  masters.  Then  I  went 
to  the  officer, — you  will  guess,  sahib,  that  it  was  the 
major,  your  uncle, — and  I  paid  his  servant  to  leave  his 
service  and  to  present  me  as  a  brother  of  his  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  serve  white  sahibs,  and  was,  like 
himself,  a  good  servant ;  so  I  took  his  place. 

"  He  was  a  good  master,  and  I  came  to  love  him, 
though  I  knew  that  I  might  yet  have  to  kill  him.  You 
have  heard  that  I  saved  his  life  three  times  ;  I  did  so 
partly  because  I  loved  him,  but  chiefly  because  his  life 
was  most  precious  to  me,  for  if  he  had  died  I  should 
have  lost  all  clue   to  the  jewels.       I  had,  of  course, 


352  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

made  sure  that  he  had  not  got  them  with  him  ,  over 
and  over  again  I  searched  every  article  in  his  posses- 
sion. I  ripped  open  his  saddle  lest  they  might  be  sewn 
up  in  its  stuffing.  All  that  could  be  done  I  did,  but  I 
was  sure  that  he  had  not  got  them.  He,  on  his  part, 
came  to  like  me.  He  thought  that  I  was  the  most 
faithful  of  servants,  and  after  the  last  time  I  saved  his 
life  he  took  me  with  him  everywhere.  He  went  down 
to  Madras  and  was  married  there.  I  watched  his  every 
movement.  After  that  he  went  down  frequently.  Then 
a  child  was  born,  and  six  months  afterwards  his  wife 
died. 

"The  regiment  was  stationed  at  the  fort.  At  that 
time  he  was  at  many  places, — the  governor's,  the  other 
officer  sahibs',  the  merchants',  and  others.  I  could  not 
follow  him,  but  I  was  sure  by  his  manner  that  he  had 
not  taken  back  the  bracelet  from  whoever  he  had  sent 
it  to.  I  knew  him  so  well  by  this  time  that  I  should 
have  noticed  any  change  in  his  manner  in  a  moment. 
At  last  the  child  went  away  in  the  charge  of  Mrs. 
Cunningham.  I  bribed  the  child's  ayah,  and  she 
searched  Mrs,  Cunningham's  boxes  and  every  garment 
she  had,  and  found  no  small  sealed  parcel  or  box 
amongst  them.  Three  years  more  passed.  By  this 
time  the  colonel  treated  me  more  as  a  friend  than  as  a 
servant.  He  said  one  day,  laughing,  '  It  is  a  long  time 
since  my  things  have  been  turned  topsy-turvy,  Ramoo. 
I  think  the  thieves  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  I 
have  not  got  what  they  are  looking  for.'  'What  is 
that,  sahib  ?'  I  asked.  *  Some  special  jewels,'  he  said. 
'They  are  extremely  valuable.     But  I  have  got  them 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  353 

and  a  lot  of  other  things  so  safely  stowed  that  no  one 
will  ever  find  them  unless  I  give  them  the  clue.'  'But 
suppose  you  are  killed,  sahib,'  I  said;  'your  little 
daughter  will  never  get  the  things.'  '  I  have  provided 
for  that,'  he  answered.  '  If  I  am  killed  I  have  arranged 
that  she  shall  know  all  about  it  either  when  she  comes 
to  the  age  of  eighteen  or  twenty-one.' 

"  A  few  weeks  after  that  he  was  wounded  very  badly. 
I  nursed  him  night  and  day  for  weeks,  and  when  he 
came  to  England  he  brought  me  with  him.  As  you 
know,  sahib,  he  died.  When  he  was  in  London  he  went 
to  see  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  the  child,  and  several  times 
to  the  office  of  the  lawyer  who  attended  your  father's 
funeral.  Then  he  came  down  to  your  father,  and  I 
know  he  had  long  and  earnest  conversations  with  him. 
I  did  all  I  could  to  listen,  but  the  colonel  always  had 
the  windows  and  doors  shut  before  he  began  to  speak. 
I  could  see  that  your  father  was  troubled.  Then  the 
colonel  died.  After  his  death  I  could  never  find  his 
snuff-box ;  he  had  carried  it  about  with  him  for  some 
years  ;  once  or  twice  I  had  examined  it,  but  it  was  too 
small  for  the  diamonds  to  be  hidden  in.  I  supposed 
that  he  had  given  it  to  the  sahib,  your  father,  but  as  I 
could  never  find  it  I  guessed  that  there  was  some  mys- 
tery attached  to  it,  though  what,  I  could  not  tell. 

"  Then  your  father  took  me  down  to  Crowswood  with 
him,  and  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  the  little  girl  came 
down,  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  your  father  seemed 
to  be  master  of  the  estate,  and  that  no  one  thought  any- 
thing of  the  child,  whose  name  had  been  changed.  I 
spoke  one  day  to   Mrs.   Cunningham  about  it     Your 

23 


354  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

father  seemed  to  me  a  just  and  good  man,  and  I  could 
not  believe  that  he  was  robbing  his  brother's  daughter. 
Mrs.  Cunningham  told  me  that  the  colonel  did  not  wish 
her  to  be  known  as  an  heiress,  and  that  he  had  left  the 
estate  to  his  brother  until  she  came  of  age.  Your  father 
was  as  good  a  master  as  the  colonel  had  been.  I 
watched  and  watched,  and  once  or  twice  I  overheard 
him  talking  to  himself  in  the  library,  and  discovered 
that  your  father  himself  was  altogether  ignorant  of  the 
hiding-place  of  the  property  that  the  colonel  had  men- 
tioned in  his  will.  I  knew  then  that  I  should  have 
to  wait  until  the  child  was  either  eighteen  or  twenty- 
one. 

"  It  was  a  long  time,  but  I  had  learnt  to  be  patient 
I  was  not  unhappy.  I  loved  your  father.  I  loved  the 
colonel's  little  daughter,  and  I  was  very  fond  of  you. 
All  these  things  were  small  to  me  in  comparison  to  my 
vow  and  the  finding  of  the  jewels  of  the  god,  but  they 
shortened  the  years  of  waiting.  Then  a  year  before  the 
young  mistress  was  eighteen  came  the  shot  through  the 
window.  I  did  not  know  who  had  fired  it,  but  I  saw 
that  your  father's  life  was  in  danger,  and  I  said  to  my- 
self, '  He  will  tell  the  young  sahib  what  he  knows  about 
the  bracelet'  After  you  had  gone  into  the  library  I 
opened  the  door  quietly,  and  listened.  I  could  hear 
much  that  was  said,  but  not  all.  I  heard  him  say  some- 
thing about  a  snuff-box,  and  some  means  of  finding  the 
lost  things  being  hidden  in  it,  and  that  he  had  kept 
them  all  these  years  in  a  secret  hiding-place,  which  he 
described.  You  were  to  search  for  them,  and  I  guessed 
from  that  that  he  did  not  know  what  he  was  to  be  told 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  355 

when  the  young  mem  sahib  came  of  age,  or  perhaps 
when  she  was  eighteen.  It  was  not  until  I  had  thought 
over  what  I  heard  that  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
if  I  could  find  the  things  he  spoke  of  I  might  be 
able  to  find  the  jewels.  By  that  time  your  father  had 
gone  to  bed.  I  was  foolish  not  to  have  been  patient, 
but  my  blood  boiled  after  waiting  for  eighteen  or  nine- 
teen years.  The  god  seemed  to  have  sent  me  the 
chance,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  should  take  it  at 
once.  I  knew  that  he  generally  slept  with  his  window 
open,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  would  be  easy  to  slip 
in  there  and  to  get  those  things  from  the  cabinet  I 
knew  where  the  ladder  was  kept  I  took  a  file  from 
the  tool-chest  and  cut  the  chain." 

Here  Mark  dropped  the  letter  in  horror. 

"Good  heavens!"  he  exclaimed.  "Then  Bastow 
spoke  truly,  and  he  was  not  my  father's  murderer. 
Never  did  a  single  suspicion  of  Ramoo  enter  my  head. 
This  is  appalling  ;  but  I  cannot  read  any  more  now.  It 
is  time  for  me  to  go  and  dress  for  dinner." 

"Is  anything  the  matter  with  you,  Mark?"  Millicent 
asked,  anxiously,  as  she  met  him  in  the  drawing-room. 
"You  look  as  white  as  a  sheet" 

"  I  have  been  reading  Ramoo's  letter,  and  he  has  told 
me  some  things  that  have  surprised  and  shocked  me.  I 
will  tell  you  about  them  after  dinner,  dear.  It  is  a  long 
story,  but  you  won't  have  to  wait  until  Dick  and  the 
Gregs  are  gone.  They  are  interested  in  all  that  interests 
us,  and  shall  hear  the  letter  read.  No  ;  I  think  I  will 
ask  them  and  Dick  to  come  in  in  the  morning.    I  should 


356  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

not  like  anything  to  sadden  the  first  evening  of  our 
coming  home." 

"Then  it  is  something  sad." 

"  Yes  ;  but  it  does  not  affect  us,  though  it  does  affect 
Ramoo.  Now,  clear  your  brow,  dear,  and  dismiss  the 
subject  from  your  mind,  else  our  guests  will  fancy  that 
our  marriage  has  not  been  altogether  so  satisfactory  as 
they  had  hoped." 

"  As  if  they  could  think  such  a  thing  as  that,  Mark !" 
she  said,  indignantly.  "  But  there  is  the  sound  of 
wheels  ;  it  is  Mr.  Chetwynd's  gig." 

The  three  visitors  all  came  in  together,  having  met  at 
the  door.  Mark,  with  a  great  effort,  put  aside  the  letter 
from  his  mind,  and  a  cheerful  evening  was  spent  They 
had  much  to  tell  of  their  travels,  many  questions  to  ask 
about  the  parish  and  the  neighbourhood  generally,  and 
of  Dick  Chetwynd  as  to  mutual  friends  ;  and  when  they 
rose  to  go,  Mark  said, — 

"  Would  you  mind  riding  over  again  to-morrow  morn- 
ing, Dick  ?  I  have  a  letter  to  read  to  you  that  will  in- 
terest you  greatly." 

"Certainly;  what  time  shall  I  be  here?" 

"Say  at  eleven  o'clock.  It  is  a  long  epistle,  and  will 
take  us  an  hour  to  get  through  ;  after  that  we  can  stroll 
round,  and,  of  course,  you  will  stop  to  lunch.  I  should 
be  glad  if  you  and  Mrs.  Greg  can  come  over,  too,"  he 
added,  turning  to  the  rector.  "  You  will  be  much  inter- 
ested also  in  the  matter." 

The  next  day  the  party  met  in  the  library  at  the  hour 
named. 

"  I  may  tell  you,  Mr.  Greg,  that  I  specially  asked  you 


THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE  357 

and  your  wife  here  because  this  letter  throws  some  light 
on  Arthur  Bastow's  connection  with  my  father's  murder. 
You  were  friends  with  his  father,  and  I  think  you  ought 
to  know.  As  to  you,  Dick,  the  letter  will  interest  you 
from  beginning  to  end,  and  will  surprise  as  much  as  it 
will  interest  you." 

"Even  I  don't  know  what  it  is,  Mrs.  Greg,"  Millicent 
said.  "  I  know  it  quite  upset  Mark  yesterday  ;  but  he 
said  he  would  sooner  I  did  not  know  anything  about  it 
until  to-day,  as  he  did  not  want  me  to  be  saddened  on 
the  first  evening  of  our  return  home.  Now,  please  go 
on,  Mark  ;  you  have  said  quite  enough  to  excite  us  all." 

Mark  had  read  but  a  short  distance  when  Dick  Chet- 
wynd  exclaimed, — 

"Then  Ramoo  was  at  the  bottom  of  that  Indian 
business,  after  all.  I  almost  wonder  you  never  sus- 
pected it,  Mark." 

"  Well,  I  hardly  could  do  so,"  Mark  said,  "  when  my 
uncle  was  so  fond  of  him,  and  he  had  served  him  so 
faithfully." 

As  he  approached  the  point  at  which  he  had  laid  down 
the  letter  on  the  previous  evening,  Millicent's  colour 
faded.  Suddenly  an  exclamation  of  horror  broke  from 
her  when  he  read  the  last  line. 

"Oh,  Mark,"  she  said,  with  quivering  lips,  "don't  say 
it  was  Ramoo  !     He  always  seemed  so  kind  and  good." 

"  It  was  here  I  stopped  last  night,"  he  said  ;  "  but  I 
fear  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  it.  I  must  say  that  it 
is  evident  from  this  letter  that  no  thought  of  doing  my 
father  harm  was  in  his  mind  when  he  placed  that  ladder 
against  the  window.     Now  I  will  go  on." 


358  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

The  letter  continued  as  follows  : 

"  Having  placed  the  ladder,  I  clambered  to  the  win- 
dow and  quietly  entered  the  room.  It  was  quite  dark, 
but  I  knew  the  place  of  every  piece  of  furniture  so  well 
that  I  was  able  to  go  without  hesitation  to  the  cabinet. 
Your  father  was  speaking  very  slowly  and  distinctly 
when  he  told  you  how  it  was  to  be  opened,  and  I  was 
able  to  do  it  easily,  but  I  did  not  know  that  the  back 
opened  with  a  sharp  click,  and  the  noise  startled  me  and 
woke  your  father.  In  an  instant  he  was  out  of  bed  and 
seized  me  by  the  throat.  Now,  he  was  a  much  stronger 
man  than  I  was,  I  struggled  in  vain,  I  felt  that  in  a 
moment  I  should  become  insensible.  My  vow  and  my 
duty  to  the  god  flashed  across  me,  and,  scarce  knowing 
what  I  did,  I  drew  a  little  dagger  I  always  carried  and 
struck  blindly.  He  fell,  and  I  fell  beside  him.  For 
a  time  I  was  insensible.  When  I  recovered  I  was  seized 
with  the  bitterest  remorse  that  I  had  killed  one  I  loved, 
but  I  seemed  to  hear  the  voice  of  the  god  saying,  'You 
have  done  well,  Ramoo.  I  am  your  great  master,  and 
you  are  bound  to  my  service.' 

"  I  got  up  almost  blindly,  felt  in  the  cabinet,  and 
found  a  coin  and  a  piece  of  paper,  and  a  feeling  of  exul- 
tation came  over  me  that  after  nearly  twenty  years  I 
should  succeed  in  carrying  out  my  vow  and  taking  his 
bracelet  back  to  the  god.  I  descended  the  ladder,  crept 
in  at  the  back  door  by  which  I  had  come  out,  went  up 
to  my  room,  where  I  had  kept  a  light  burning,  and  ex- 
amined my  treasures.  Then  I  saw  that  all  had  been  in 
vain.     They  were  doubtless  a  key  to  the  mystery,  but 


THE  BRAHMINS' ■  TREASURE  359 

until  a  clue  was  given  they  were  absolutely  useless.  I 
sat  for  hours  staring  at  them.  I  would  have  gone  back 
and  replaced  them  in  the  cabinet  and  left  all  as  it  had 
been  before,  but  I  dared  not  enter  the  room  again. 
The  next  day  I  heard  you  say  that  you  suspected  that 
the  talk  with  your  father  had  been  overheard,  and  that 
the  man  who  had  earlier  in  the  evening  before  shot  at 
him  had  returned,  and  while  listening  had  heard  some- 
thing said  about  the  hiding-place,  and  thought  that  he 
would  find  some  sort  of  treasure  there.  I  thought  that 
in  the  talk  your  father  might  have  told  you  how  to  use 
these  things,  though  I  had  not  caught  it,  and  it  was 
therefore  important  that  you  should  have  them  back 
again,  so  I  went  into  the  room  after  the  inquest  was  over 
and  placed  the  things  in  their  hiding-place  again. 

"Then,  thinking  it  over,  I  determined  to  leave  your 
service.  You  would  be  trying  to  find  the  treasure,  and 
I  must  watch  you,  and  this  I  could  not  do  as  long  as  I 
was  a  house  servant ;  so  I  came  up  to  London  and  you 
thought  I  had  sailed  for  India,  but  I  did  not  go.  I 
hired  four  Lascars,  men  of  my  own  religion,  and  paid 
them  to  watch  every  movement  that  you  made,  to  see 
where  you  visited  and  where  you  went.  I  paid  them 
well,  and  they  served  me  well ;  it  was  so  that  I  was  able 
to  bring  those  men  to  your  help  when  but  for  that  you 
would  have  lost  your  life.  It  was  for  this  to  some  extent 
that  I  had  you  followed,  for  I  soon  found  out  that  you 
were  on  the  search  for  the  man  who  had  fired  through 
the  window,  and  who  you  believed  had  killed  your  father, 
rather  than  for  the  jewels.  I  knew  that  you  might  run 
into  danger,  and  partly  because  I  loved  you,  and  partly 


36o  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

because  it  was  possible  that  it  would  be  essential  for  that 
coin  and  piece  of  paper  to  be  produced  in  order  that 
the  treasure  might  be  obtained,  I  kept  guard  over  you. 

"  When  the  1 8th  of  August  approached,  we  were  all 
on  the  watch.  I  felt  sure  that  you  would  take  every 
possible  precaution  while  you  had  the  bracelet  in  your 
possession.  We  knew  who  were  your  principal  friends, 
— the  banker's  son  and  Mr.  Chetwynd.  On  the  1 8th  of 
August  everything  went  on  as  usual.  On  the  following 
day  the  banker's  son  came  to  you,  and  as  soon  as  he 
left  you,  you  went  to  the  lawyer's,  and  afterwards  to  the 
banker's.  I  felt  sure  now  that  it  was  at  that  bank  that  the 
jewels  had  been  placed,  and  that  you  had  been  waiting 
till  the  young  mem  sahib's  birthday  for  the  news  that  they 
might  be  taken  out;  then  you  went  to  Mr.  Chetwynd's, 
and  he  went  to  the  bank.  I  had  no  doubt  that  he  was 
to  take  them  out  for  you,  and  after  that  one  of  the  men 
never  took  his  eyes  off  him  when  he  was  outside  of  his 
house.  Afterwards  you  went  to  the  place  where  the 
men  used  to  fight,  and  the  man  who  was  watching  you 
went  in  and  had  beer  and  saw  you  talking  with  the  big 
man  you  used  to  fight  with,  in  the  parlour  behind  the 
bar.  The  watcher  went  out  to  follow  you,  but  left 
another  to  watch  this  man.  We  found  that  both  Mr. 
Chetwynd  and  he  went  to  a  shipping  office  in  Tower 
Street,  and  we  then  guessed  that  you  intended  to  take 
the  bracelet  at  once  across  the  sea. 

"  I  went  myself  and  found  out  that  a  vessel  was  sail- 
ing in  two  days  to  Amsterdam.  I  took  a  passage  for  a 
man  in  the  cheap  cabin,  and  asked  to  look  at  the  list  of 
passengers,  as  I  believed  that  some  friend  would  be  sail- 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  361 

ing  by  her  ;  there  were  two  names  down  together  in 
one  handwriting  among  the  first-class  passengers,  and  I 
guessed  that  these  were  you  and  Mr.  Chetwynd.  1 
also  saw  the  name  of  the  big  man,  which  I  had  heard 
long  before,  down  in  the  list  of  the  passengers,  and 
another  name  next  to  his  in  the  same  handwriting.  I 
did  not  know  his  name,  but  guessed  that  it  was  another 
of  the  fighting  men,  and  that  they  were  going  to  look 
after  you  until  you  had  got  rid  of  the  diamonds.  On 
the  morning  that  she  was  to  sail,  one  of  the  Lascars 
was  on  board;  I  thought  it  possible  that  in  order' to 
throw  anyone  who  might  be  following  you  off  your 
scent  you  might  at  the  last  moment  go  ashore,  and 
that  Mr.  Chetwynd  might  take  the  diamonds  over, 
so  I  watched  and  saw  you  on  the  deck  with  your 
friend. 

"I  and  the  other  three  Lascars  then  took  passage 
that  evening  in  a  craft  for  Rotterdam,  and  got  to  Am- 
sterdam two  days  before  your  ship  arrived  ;  we  went  to 
different  houses,  and,  going  separately  into  the  worst 
parts  of  the  town,  soon  found  a  man  who  kept  a  gam- 
bling-den, and  who  was  a  man  who  could  be  trusted. 
I  offered  him  a  thousand  francs  to  collect  twenty-five 
men,  who  were  t6  be  paid  a  hundred  francs  each,  and 
to  be  ready,  if  your  ship  arrived  after  dark  to  attack 
two  passengers  that  I  would  point  out  to  them.  I  did 
not  want  you  to  be  hurt,  so  bargained  that  all  knives 
were  to  be  left  behind,  and  that  he  was  to  supply  the 
men  only  with  clubs.  If  the  ship  came  in  in  daylight 
you  were  to  be  attacked  the  first  time  you  went  out 
after  dark.     You  know  how  that  was  carried  out     You 


362  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

had  two  more  men  with  you  than  I  had  expected  ;  but 
I  thought  that  with  a  sudden  rush  you  might  all  be 
separated.  You  know  the  rest.  The  moment  you 
were  knocked  down  I  and  three  others  carried  you  to  a 
boat.  It  had  been  lying  near  the  stairs,  and  we  took 
you  off  to  the  barge  in  which  I  had  arranged  you  should 
be  taken  to  Rotterdam. 

"  We  told  them  that  you  were  a  drunken  man  who 
had  been  stunned  in  a  fight  in  a  public-house.  As 
soon  as  we  were  off,  I  searched  you  and  found  the 
diamonds.  Then,  as  you  know,  we  put  you  ashore. 
We  all  crossed  to  England  that  night.  Two  days  later 
I  sailed  in  this  ship,  the  '  Bramahpootra.'  I  am  not 
afraid  of  telling  you  this,  because  I  know  that  the 
diamonds  will  not  shine  on  the  god's  arm  until  all  fear 
of  search  and  enquiry  are  over.  My  task  will  be  done 
when  I  hand  them  over  to  the  man  who  holds  the  office 
I  once  held  ;  then  I  shall  bear  the  penances  imposed  on 
me  for  having  broken  my  caste  in  every  way,  and  for 
having  taken  life,  and  for  the  rest  of  my  days  I  shall 
wander  as  a  fakir  through  India.  I  shall  be  supported 
by  the  knowledge  that  I  have  done  my  duty  to  my  god, 
and  have  sacrificed  all  in  his  service,  but  it  will  ever  be 
a  grief  to  me  that  in  so  doing  it  was  necessary  to  sacri- 
fice the  life  of  one  who  had  ever  shown  me  kindness. 
You  may  wonder  why  I  have  written  this,  but  I  felt 
that  I  must  own  the  truth  to  you,  and  that  you  should 
know  that  if  in  the  course  of  my  duty  to  the  god  it  was 
my  misfortune  to  slay  your  father,  I  have  twice  saved 
your  life,  just  as  three  times  I  saved  that  of  the  colonel 
sahib,  your  uncle." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  363 

There  was  silence  for  some  little  time  after  Mark  had 
finished  reading. 

"It  is  a  strange  story,  indeed,"  Mr.  Greg  said,  "but 
it  is  not  for  us  to  judge  the  man.  He  has  acted  accord- 
ing to  his  lights,  and  none  can  do  more.  He  sacrificed 
himself  and  his  life  solely  to  the  service  of  his  god,  well 
knowing  that,  even  were  he  successful,  his  reward  would 
be  penance  and  suffering,  and  a  life  of  what  cannot  but 
be  misery  to  a  man  brought  up,  as  he  has  been,  to  con- 
sider himself  of  the  highest  and  holiest  rank  of  the 
people.  I  think,  Mark,  we  need  neither  say  nor  think 
anything  harshly  of  him." 

"  Certainly  not,"  Mark  agreed.  "  I  can  understand 
that  according  to  his  view  of  the  matter  anything  that 
stood  between  him  and  his  goal  was  but  an  obstacle 
to  be  swept  aside ;  assuredly  there  was  no  premedita- 
tion in  the  killing  of  my  father.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  man  was  attached  to  him,  and  that  he  killed  him  not 
to  save  his  own  life,  but  in  order  that  his  mission  might 
be  carried  out" 

"  Quite  so,  Mark  ;  it  was  done  in  the  same  spirit,  if  I 
may  say  so,  that  Abraham  would  have  sacrificed  his  son 
at  the  order  of  his  God.  What  years  of  devotion  that 
man  has  passed  through.  Accustomed,  as  you  see,  to  a 
lofty  position,  to  the  respect  and  veneration  of  those 
around  him,  he  became  a  servant  and  performed  duties 
that  were  in  his  opinion  not  only  humiliating,  but  pol- 
luting and  destructive  to  his  caste,  and  which  rendered 
him  an  outcast  even  among  the  lowest  of  his  people. 
Do  you  not  think  so,  Mrs.  Thorndyke  ?" 

Millicent,  who  was  crying  quietly,  looked  up. 


364  THE  BRAHMINS'   TREASURE 

"  I  can  only  think  of  him  as  the  man  who  twice  saved 
Mark's  life,"  she  said. 

"  I  understand  why  you  have  wished  to  tell  me  this 
story,"  the  rector  went  on  to  Mark.  "  You  wish  me  to 
know  that  Arthur  Bastow  did  not  add  this  to  his  other 
crimes  ;  that  he  was  spared  from  being  the  murderer 
of  your  father,  but  from  no  want  of  will  on  his  part  ; 
and,  as  we  know,  he  killed  many  others,  the  last  but 
an  hour  or  two  before  he  put  an  end  to  his  own  life, 
still  I  am  glad  that  this  terrible  crime  is  not  his.  It 
seemed  to  be  so  revolting  and  unnatural.  It  was  the 
Squire's  father  who  had  given  the  living  to  his  father, 
and  the  Squire  himself  had  been  his  friend  in  the  greatest 
of  his  trials,  and  had  given  him  a  shelter  and  a  home 
in  his  old  age.  I  am  glad  at  least  that  the  man,  evil 
as  he  was,  was  spared  this  last  crime  of  the  grossest 
ingratitude." 

"Well,  Mark,"  Dick  Chetwynd  said,  cheerfully,  in 
order  to  turn  the  subject,  "  I  am  heartily  glad  that  we 
have  got  to  the  bottom  of  this  jewel  mystery.  I  have 
been  puzzling  over  it  all  the  time  that  you  have  been 
away,  and  I  have  never  been  able  to  understand  how,  in 
spite  of  the  precautions  that  we  took,  they  should  have 
found  out  that  the  jewels  were  at  Cotter's,  and  that  you 
had  them  on  board  with  you,  and,  above  all,  why  they 
spared  your  life  when  they  could  so  easily  and  safely 
have  put  you  out  of  the  way.  It  is  certainly  strange 
that  while  you  were  thinking  over  everything  connected 
with  the  jewels,  the  idea  that  Ramoo  was  the  leading 
spirit  in  the  whole  business  should  never  once  have 
occurred  to  you." 


THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE  365 

A  month  later,  when  Mark  went  up  to  town,  he  Ccilled 
at  Leadenhall  Street 

"  Of  course,  you  have  not  heard  of  the  arrival  of  the 
*  Brahmapootra'  at  Madras  yet  May  I  £isk  when  she 
left  the  Cape  ?" 

"  She  never  left  the  Cape,  sir,"  the  clerk  replied,  "  and 
there  are  very  grave  fears  for  her  safety.  She  spoke  the 
'  Surinam,'  and  gave  her  mails  for  England,  when  the 
latter  was  eight  days  out  from  the  Cape,  and  the  '  Suri- 
nam' reported  that  a  day  later  she  encountered  a  terri- 
ble gale,  lost  several  spars,  and  narrowly  escaped  being 
blown  on  to  the  African  coast  Since  then  we  have  had 
no  news  of  the  *  Brahmapootra.'  A  number  of  India- 
men  have  arrived  since  ;  the  latest  came  in  only  yester- 
day, and  up  to  the  time  when  she  left  no  news  had  been 
received  of  the  ship.  Three  small  craft  had  been  sent 
up  the  coast  weeks  before  to  make  enquiries  for  her,  but 
had  returned  without  being  able  to  obtain  any  intelli- 
gence, and  had  seen  no  wreckage  on  the  coast,  although 
they  had  gone  several  hundred  miles  beyond  where  she 
had  spoken  the  'Surinam,'  therefore,  there  can  be  but 
little  doubt  that  she  foundered  with  all  hands  during  the 
gale.     You  had  no  near  relatives  on  board,  I  hope,  sir?" 

"  No  near  relatives,  but  there  was  one  on  board  in 
whom  I  was  greatly  interested.  Here  is  my  card  ;  I 
should  feel  greatly  obliged  if  you  would  write  me  a  line 
should  you  hear  anything  of  her." 

"  I  will  do  so,  sir.  We  have  had  innumerable  enqui- 
ries from  friends  and  relatives  of  those  on  board,  and 
although  of  late  we  have  been  obliged  to  say  that  there 
can  no  longer  be  any  hope  that  she  will  ever  be  heard 


366  THE  BRAHMINS'  TREASURE 

of,  not  a  day  passes  but  many  persons  still  come  in  to 
enquire." 

No  letter  ever  came  to  Mark,  no  news  was  ever  heard 
of  the  "  Brahmapootra,"  Ramoo's  sacrifice  was  in  vain, 
and  never  again  did  the  diamond  bracelet  glisten  on  the 
arm  of  the  idol  in  the  unknown  temple. 


THE    END. 


I  X  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  f  AC 


A     000  134  773     1 


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^    I     'I   J*l^  *      "^^-^  I        1 


